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John Worth Kern — 1913 



The Life 

of 

John Worth Kern 



By 



CLAUDE G. BOWERS 



02/ 



INDIANAPOLIS 

THE HOLLENBECK PRESS 

1918 



K^47JS 



Copyright Nineteen Hundred Eighteen 
By Claude G. Bowers 

Fort Wayne, Ind 



e£C -2l9ii 



©CLA50835B 



DEDICATED 

TO 

JOHN WORTH KERN, Jr. 

AND 

WILLIAM COOPER KERN 



"It is fine to feel that one's boy may become a 
great man; but I would rather that my boys 
should be good without being great, than to be 
great without being good." — Senator Kern. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

IN the preparation of this biography, in the midst 
of the duties of an exacting profession, I wish to 
acknowledge my indebtedness to Vice-President 
Marshall, Secretary of the Treasury William G. 
McAdoo, Secretary William B. Wilson, William 
Jennings Bryan, Judge Alton B. Parker of New 
York, Senator Saulsbury of Delaware, Senator Ken- 
yon of Iowa, Senator Lea of Tennessee, Senator 
Thomas of Colorado, Senator O'Gorman of New 
York, Senator Taggart of Indiana, Leon O. Bailey 
of New York, "Mother" Jones, Andrew Furseth the 
Emancipator of the Seamen, Jackson Morrow of 
Kokomo, Indiana, John Callan O'Laughlin of Chi- 
cago, Louis Ludlow of Washington, D. C, Thomas 
Shipp of Washington, D. C, W. H. Blodgett and 
Kin Hubbard of the Indianapolis News, for data, 
verifications and reminiscences. 

And I am under the deepest obligations to Robert 
E. Springsteen of Indianapolis, and Howard Roosa, 
editor of the Evansville Courier, for services too 

numerous to mention. 

C. G. B. 



INTRODUCTION 

Vice-President's Chamber, 

Washington, D. C. 

BECAUSE carping Pilot asked "What is truth" 
and did not stay for an answer, the world has 
thought that question to be the one unsolved riddle. 
Yet there are many other attributes to which answers 
have been given that are almost, if not altogether, as 
great riddles. 

What constitutes greatness has received as many 
answers as there have been men to express them. It 
all depends upon the mental process of a man as to 
whether his fellow man has attained unto greatness. 
The paladin of finance would consider it a joke to be 
told that an Egyptologist was a great man; the doer 
of deeds can never think of greatness as an attribute 
to the dreamer of dreams; and thus it is that the esti- 
mate by one man of another will only pass current 
with those of like mind. 

For me, it has been needful that brain and heart 
should work in unison in the life of a man in order 
to render his story worthy of being embalmed in a 
biography. Mere intellect is not sufficient; mere 
emotion unsatisfactory. For thirty years I knew all 
about and I also knew John Worth Kern. Heaven 
molded him with a clear and analytic mind — a mind 



viii Introduction 

capable of grasping and elucidating the great prob- 
lems of state — and then Heaven further endowed 
him with a tender and loving heart, so that much as 
he believed in the principles for which he stood and 
the faith which he avowed, he had that large-hearted 
and generous judgment of his fellow men which 
mark, to my mind, true greatness. 

It is the measure of a little man to be cocksure, to 
be eternally and everlastingly right, to be quite cer- 
tain that Jehovah gave into his hands all knowledge, 
all goodness and all power. It is the measure of a 
really great man to walk with certainty and yet to 
walk humbly in his public life, granting to other men 
the right to think, to speak, to act freely. 

This was the grade of man John Worth Kern was. 
He showed it in his brilliant services at the bar, in 
his forceful presentation of his party's principles on 
the stump and in that kindly, loveable leadership 
which, when he left the Senate of the United States, 
made it the supreme desire of political friend and foe 
alike to do something for him as the shadows of night 
began to gather around his head. To my mind he 
was one of Indiana's great and illustrious citizens 
whose life, when read by the schoolboy of to-day, will 
help to sweeten, glorify and adorn the public service 
of to-morrow. 

It were impious here to speak of his beautiful 
home life. He was great in the counsels of his party 



Introduction ix 

but in his home he transcended the common mortal 
and became a demigod of love and good will. The 
Indianian will know him and love him even more, 
if possible, when this biography is read and it is re- 
membered that it is the free-will offering of a man 
who saw our dear, dead statesman and citizen in his 
hours of exultation, in his moments of depression, 
when his soul was bare to the inspection of a man 
who knew when he saw what he saw. 

Thomas R. Marshall. 



CONTENTS 

I — Childhood and Early Youth 



The wilderness physician — Alto — Birth of Kern — Playing 
doctor — Life in Iowa — The partisan of 1860 — Kokomo 
Academy — The equestrian orator — The pedagogue — Alto 
society — A temperance speech — The actor in "The Demon 
of the Glass" — The boy orator — Ann Arbor days — Letters 
to Morrow — Visit to Canada — The slate-maker of 1868 — 
Views on Indiana politics — Hears Gough, Philips and 
Whipple — Work in the Douglas Society — His reconstruc- 
tion views — Hears Zack Chandler — His thesis — Gradua- 
tion — Taken for a maniac. 

II — Kokomo Days — Lawyer and Citizen . . . 27 

"Tipton no place for a LL. D." — Opens office in Kokomo 
— Anna Hazzard calls — Prospects— Office loafers — The 
"boys" — His popularity — Considered a genius — C. C. Shir- 
ley's recollections — Eloquence before juries — Pranks in 
court — Buys a $30 cake — Marriage — Takes first rank as 
criminal lawyer — Battle with Hendricks and Gordon — 
Hendricks predicts brilliant future — The Hawkins case — 
Court battle with Voorhees — Voorhees' tribute — The Ko- 
komo of the seventies — The community orator. 

Ill — As Democratic Leader in Howard, 1870-1884 47 

County convention of 1870 — Kern writes resolutions — 
Nominated at twenty for legislature — Brilliant campaign — 
Pays election bet — Helps establish Democratic paper — 
Writes for papers — Democratic convention of 1872 — Estab- 
lishes a Greeley paper — Rides in political processions — 
Makes reform fight in 1874 — The McGill machine — Active 
in *76 — His keynote — Addresses "hack drivers on Indiana 
avenue" — Phillipic against Worden — His regrets — Op- 
posed to Tilden's nomination — "I'm a liar" — Attacked in 
the press — A Scurrilous story — Campaign of '82 — His 
views on money in elections — The faith of his followers. 



xii Contents 

IV — Reporter of the Supreme Court, 1884-1889 68 

Seeks nomination for reporter of Supreme Court — The 
great convention of '84 — Nominated — A spirited campaign 
— Wins state reputation — Challenges Holstein to debate — 
Considered gubernatorial timber — Recollections of his 
campaign of '84 — His retorts — Evenings with ballads — 
Work as reporter — Joke on Judge Niblack — Extends ac- 
quaintance — A day of conviviality — Defeated in 1888 — 
Marriage to Miss Cooper — The Indianapolis lawyer. 

V — Leader in the Indiana Senate, '93 and '95 . 88 

Elected to state senate— Conceded leadership— His appear- 
ance—Nominated Turpie— Espouses an unpopular cause — 
Relations with labor organizations — Leads fight to legalize 
unions— His speech for Decry bill — Attracts national notice 
— Unpopularity of labor — Leads senate fight for employ- 
ers' liability law— Dramatic incidents — A signal triumph — 
Fights for child labor law — Leads minority in 1895 — Fights 
Republican gerrymander — Excoriates Republican legisla- 
tive record — The Nicholson law — Kern's part — Estimate of 
colleague. 

VI — Europe and the Campaign of '96 . . . .114 

Rest in Europe— Meets Alton B. Parker— General Collins 
—Paris days with Morss— The silver pre-convention de- 
bate—The English opera house meeting— Kern's speech— 
The convention— Kern enters campaign — Effect of devel- 
opments on him. 

VII — Gubernatorial Battles 126 

Political conditions in 1900— Kern declines to run for gov- 
ernor—The Morss dinner— Accepts at midnight— Frank 
B. Burke— Kern nominated— The campaign— Defeat- 
Speech at Bryan birthday dinner— Recognized as Bryan's 
Indiana lieutenant — Keynote speech in 1902 — The battle of 
1904 — Kern supports Parker— Refuses nomination for gov- 
ernor—Consents on plea of Parker— Parker's verification 
—Defeat. 
VIII — Europe AND AsHEViLLE : An Interlude . . 144 

Europe for rest— Green Smith — Incongruous tourists — 
Joke on Smith— Catches cold in campaign of 1906— Forced 
to Asheville— Life there— Letters to John, Jr.— Recovers. 



Contents xiii 



IX — Running With Bryan 156 

Kern and the vice-presidency — Pleads poverty — Bryan of- 
fers room In White House — Letter to Indianapolis News 
— En route to Denver — With Bryan at Lincoln — Vice-presi- 
dency not discussed — Discussed in Denver — Boom dinner 
at the Savoy — Kern's silence — Indiana delegation organizes 
to push him — His only words to delegation — Selected by 
the leaders — Marshall's nominating speech — Nominated — 
Hero of the hour — Stops at Lincoln — Town "Kern-mad" — 
Meets with Bryan and the committee — Publicity of con- 
tributions before elections — Embarrassment in the enemy's 
camp — Reaches home — Non-partisan reception — Kern's 
speech — Tribute of Kokomo — At Bryan notification meet- 
ing — Kern notified — His southern tour — Meets Sherman at 
Chicago — John, Jr., stricken — Kern's eastern tour — John, 
Jr., worse — Cancels dates — Indiana tour — Election night — 
Kern's affection for Sherman. 

X — Battle for the Senate 188 

Kern announces candidacy for senate — Opposed by the 
breweries — The other candidates — Lamb's warning against 
secret ballot — Scenes at the Denison — At the state house 
— Analysis of vote — Defeated — Alibis — The famous Mor- 
row interview — Convention of 1910 — "The Governor's 
Plan" — The fight — Kern's attempt to refuse the nomina- 
tion — Meredith Nicholson's comment — Nominated — Bever- 
idge's position — Kern's keynote — Views on the speech — 
Fight for progressive Democrat votes — Kern's attacks — 
"Mary of the vine-clad cottage" — Roosevelt, Bryan and 
Parker — Victory. 

XI — Kern's First Congress 209 

Demoralization of Republicans in congress — New Demo- 
cratic senators — Their progressive trend — They rally about 
Kern — Kern leads fight for reorganization — Nominates 
Shively for leader — Named on Steering committee — On 
Finance committee — Favors Shively for the place — Rela- 
tions with Shively — A famous pension speech — Canadian 
reciprocity— The "Farmer's lobby" — The Lawrence strike 
— Position in Stephenson case — The Archibald impeach- 
ment. 



xiv Contents 



XII — Kern's Fight Against Lorimerism . . . 226 

The Lorimer election — His vindication — ^A new investiga- 
tion — Kern on committee — Scenes at the hearings — The 
sinister atmosphere — The committee division — Lea and 
Kenyon — Affectionate relations of the three— Kern's base 
of operations — Scurrilous letters — Kern's cross-examina- 
tion — The Blumenberg incident — The girl telegrapher — At- 
tempts to postpone committee report — Kern's insistence — 
The committee fight — The minority report — Kern the dom- 
inating figure — Kenyon's estimate — Lea's — John Callan 
O'Loughlin — Kern's speech — Challenges Lorimer's support- 
ers — Lorimer attacks Kern — Why Kern did not reply — 
Lorimer expelled. 

XIII — Kern's Position at the Baltimore Con- 
vention 252 

Kern hears of fight on Parker — His embarrassment — Re- 
fuses temporary chairmanship — Bryan's reasons for not 
being a candidate — Bryan decides on Kern — Efforts to dis- 
suade Bryan — Bryan's testimony on the subject — A sleep- 
less night — Kern plans his appeal to Parker — Tells Mrs. 
Kern — The convention scene — Bryan nominates Kern — 
Kern's dramatic appeal — The effect on the public — A sur- 
prise to Bryan — Bryan's delight — His description of Kern's 
speech — Kern chairman Platform committee — Kern the 
dark horse — His preconvention attitude — Bryan's knowl- 
edge of his embarrassment — "Testing sentiment for Kern" 
— "Wilson or Kern" — Luke Lea — Kern loyal to Marshall — 
Important states ready to go to Kern — If Kern had given 
consent — Reasons for refusal — Bryan's attitude — Kern's 
influence on result. 

XIV — Election to Leadership of the Senate. . . . 282 

A Democratic senate — The grave responsibility — Ugly mem- 
ories — New Democratic senators — Reorganization move- 
ment — Kern absent from conferences — A telegram — Con- 
ferences at Luke Lea's home — Kern chosen by progressives 
for leader — His special qualifications — Elected unani- 
mously — His conciliatory policy — Revolution in commit- 
tees — Changes in rules — The country's interpretation of 
the revolution. 



Contents xv 

XV — Kern's Fight Against Feudalism in West 
Virginia 296 

Feudalism in West Virginia coal fields — The system — The 
horrors of Cabin Creek — Reign of the gun-men — War of 
1912 — Unionism outlawed — Ernest Gaujot the King Guard 
— Outrages on women and children — "I don't hear my 
baby calling me now" — Battle of Mucklow — Mother Jones 
— Leads miners to governor — Gun-men must go — Mother 
Jones organizes men — Governor appoints investigating 
committee — Its report — Armored train shoots up miner's 
camp — Murder of Estep — Martial law — Mother Jones ar- 
rested — System enforces silence — The public wonders — 
Mrs. Freemont Older — Magazine exposes — Constitutional 
rights denied — Civil courts ignored — Mockery of trials — 
Kern presents resolution — Powerful interests alarmed — 
Pressure on Kern — Sinister fight on resolution — Kern 
hears from people — Mrs. Older sees him — "Will see you in 
hell first" — Bitter attack on Kern — Mother Jones smuggles 
telegram to him — A dramatic incident — Effect of telegram 
— Mother Jones released — Goes to Washington — Her work 
there — Kern's first speech — Demands light — Kern's second 
speech — Warns of social injustice — States rights — Wins the 
fight — Result of investigation. 

XVI — Senatorial Battles for Social Justice . 328 

Industrial Relations Commission — Kern's interest — At- 
tempt to cut its appropriation — Kern's successful protest 
The Seamen's bill — Slavery of the sea — Andrew Furseth — 
His appeal to Kern — Kern's attitude — Accompanies Fur- 
seth to the president — Furseth's anniversary letter to Kern 
— The Kern Workman's Compensation Act — The Child 
Labor Bill — Kern's part — His fight in caucus — Vardaman 
drops the curtain — Kern leads fight in senate — Excoriates 
a preacher — His effective use of President Eliot's letter. 

XVII — In the Role of Senate Leader .... 349 

Responsibility of leadership — On guard — Conciliation — 
The absentees — A jocular rebuke — Threatens slacker with 
denunciation — Summer of 1914 — Temper of congress — 
Work in caucus and conferences — The one revolt — Smokes 
Penrose out — The president's program — Kern's tact and 
temper — Why he did not speak — Relations with the presi- 



xvi Contents 

dent— Opinion of him— Night conference in capitol base- 
ment—Strike conference in Kern's room— Letter to Mrs. 
Kern — Concern over international situation — White House 
conference on Germany — Relations with Bryan, McAdoo, 
Daniels and Wilson — Opinion of Lane — Estimates of Sen- 
ators Thomas, O'Gorman and Saulsbury — Relations with 
Republicans. 

XVIII— The Last Battle 377 

Indiana campaign of 1916 — Comedy and tragedy— Blunders 
of national leaders— Lack of money and organization — 
Speakers refused — Kern's advice ignored — His plan — His 
illness — Handicaps of campaign— Mother Jones reports — 
Last campaign speech— Philosophical in defeat. 

XIX — The Closing of a Career 389 

Last session— Retains leadership — Failing health — Shadows 
of war — Kern's distress — The President's senate speech — 
Kern delighted — On arming merchant ships — Kern's vale- 
dictorian — Henry Cabot Lodge's response — Hoke Smith's 
— ^Watson's — Stone's — Thomas' — Testimonial of Demo- 
cratic senators — Vice-president's note. 

XX — The Real Kern : A Composite Portrait . . 403 

The Kern of the closet — Solving problems in solitude — 
Powers of concentration— Patience — Patience under attack 
—Tireless letter writer— Art of his letters— Manner of 
preparing speeches — Religious nature — Rebukes a minister 
— Letter on death of a child— Personal appearance— The 
companion — Reminiscences and stories of Henry Barn- 
hart, Ludlow and Blodgett— Leon Bailey's picture. 

XXI— At Kerncliffe 453 

Kerncliffe— Mrs. Strauss on "The House that Araminta 
Built"— Kern's hope for rest— Failing health— At Asheville 
— Lecture tour — Breakdown— Ordered back to Asheville — 
Letters to sons — Last days— Death — The burial at Kern- 
cliffe — Memorial meeting at Indianapolis — Senate action — 
Secretary of Labor Wilson's tribute. 



LIFE OF JOHN W. KERN 

CHAPTER I 

Childhood and Early Youth 
I 

IN the forties the constant stream of sturdy pio- 
neers pouring into Indiana from the eastern and 
southern states began the work of redeeming the state 
from the wilderness. These early settlers were a 
hardy folk, adventurous, inured to toil, and strong 
of character. In 1840 the first white man settled in 
Harrison township in Howard county, albeit the 
locality had been a paradise for trappers for several 
years before a permanent settlement was made. It 
vvas a country of rich soil, but heavily wooded with 
primeval forests, and many years of assiduous labor 
were to intervene before the stumps could be cleared 
from the fields or the highways be made at all pass- 
able in bad weather. Almost immediately after the 
first white man established a permanent home in the 
township a water mill was built, and about it a settle- 
ment sprang up which took the name of Alto. Soon 
the village boasted — and the word is used advisedly 
— three stores, three cabinet shops, a blacksmith 
shop, a boot and shoe shop, and during the first two 



2 Life of John W. Kern 

years of its existence it did as much business as Ko- 
komo, a few miles distant. Here was constructed 
the first church in the township, a large one built of 
logs, which was to serve as a place of worship for 
many years. And in the middle of the first decade 
of the existence of this settlement in the wilderness 
Dr. Jacob Harrison Kern moved to the village, built 
a home and opened an office. 

Doctor Kern's great grandfather, Adam Kern, had 
emigrated from Germany about the middle of the 
eighteenth century, with ten children, seven of whom 
were boys, and settled in Frederick county, Virginia. 
One of his sons, the grandfather of Doctor Kern, had 
made his home at Kernstown, Virginia, about four 
miles south of Winchester, where six sons were born, 
the eldest, Nicholas, and the father of the future 
medical adviser of Alto, having first looked out upon 
the world on the third anniversary of the signing of 
the Declaration of Independence, and in the midst 
of the revolutionary war. He was the father of ten 
children, the sixth of whom, born in December, 1813, 
was christened Jacob Harrison. In 1838 Dr. Kern, 
accompanied by three of his brothers, moved to 
Shelby county, Indiana, bringing with them an old 
negro woman known as "Aunt Giny," whom they 
set free. A little later the doctor, who appears to 
have been a victim of the wanderlust after leaving 
his Virginia home until his ultimate return, moved 



Childhood and Early Youth 3 

to Warren county, Ohio, where he began the prac- 
tice of medicine. Here he met and married a Nancy 
Ligget, who is remembered by her daughter as "a 
comely woman, tall, rather slender and with black 
hair and eyes." Here the first child, Sally, was born 
in 1845, and soon after this event the little family 
moved to Alto. 

Doctor Kern was a rather stern, grimly serious 
man, of exceptional professional capacity, and strong, 
mentality, and his reputation as a physician spread 
through the surrounding country, resulting in an ex- 
tensive practice for miles about. He was what is 
popularly known as a "strong character," possessed 
of little of the sense of humor with which his more 
celebrated son was so abundantly gifted. Asked for 
a description or characterization of him, the few, 
now living, who remember him almost invariably 
hesitate and begin with the comment, "Well, it is 
rather difficult to describe him. He was an unusual 
man — different from most men. He had a fine mind 
and a fine character." His son remembered him with 
an affection in which admiration predominated. He 
was cast in the Puritanic mould, abhorring indolence 
and vice, preaching and practicing frugality and toil. 

At the edge of the village he built a home which 
was considered a pretentious structure for the time 
and place, although it consisted of but two rooms. 
The fact that instead of being a rough log hut it was 



4 Life of John W. Kern 

weatherboarded and had "two front doors" was 
enough to stamp it in the wilderness as the abode of 
the patrician of the community. 

Here on December 20, 1849, just nine years after 
^ the first white man settled in the township, John 
Worth Kern was born. 

II 

The first five years of his life were spent in the 
house with the "two front doors" and differed in no 
wise from the early childhood of the other children 
of the wilderness community except that he had more 
of the comforts than fell to the lot of many others. 
The only picture of the future senator of that period 
that is preserved is in the memory of the venerable 
sister — a picture of the boy in his favorite amuse- 
ment, sitting astride an old discarded saddle on a 
carpenter horse with a pair of saddle bags filled with 
powders and bottles, going to visit an imaginary pa- 
tient, and solemnly giving instructions to "give him 
one powder every hour till Monday, and if he 'plains 
of it give it to him agin." 

In 1854 Doctor Kern moved with his family to 
Warren county, Iowa, where the next nine years were 
spent near Indianola in pleasant surroundings, with 
congenial neighbors, and in the midst of plenty. 
Here we get our first glimpse of the future partisan 
in an incident connected with the Lincoln-Douglas 
campaign of i860. From his earliest boyhood he 



Childhood and Early Youth 5 

knew he was a Democrat and he took no pains to 
conceal the fact. During the dramatic campaign of 
i860 he frequently drove to Indianola with a load 
of wood, and on these expeditions he attracted atten- 
tion by his vociferous yelling for Douglas. On going 
to town after the election, he was accosted by a friend 
of his father's with the query as to how he felt over 
the result. 

"Like Lazarus," snapped the eleven-year-old par- 
tisan. 

"Why, how is that?" he was asked. 

"Like I'd been licked by the dogs," was the quick 
retort. 

After the death of Mrs. Kern the doctor soon lost 
his taste for far western life and in 1865 he returned 
with his two children to Alto, which was to remain 
the home of the family until after the only son com- 
menced his professional career. 

At the time young John returned to the house of 
his nativity, a tall, lightly built youth of fifteen, he 
immediately was accorded a position of leadership 
among the boys and girls of his own age. The social 
activities of the community were of a simple nature 
and revolved about the church. The young people 
met at the Sunday school services in the old log 
Methodist church, and at the Cobb church a mile 
distant from the village, for gossip and flirtations, 
and it was in connection with the Sunday school that 



6 Life of John W. Kern 

the future statesman first attracted attention to his 
precocious ability. I am indebted to Mr. Jackson 
Morrow, a life-long friend, for a description of this 
event. "John was then an active member of the Alto 
Methodist Sunday school," he writes. "In that day 
the annual Sunday school celebration was the great 
social event of the community. In the community 
were numerous country churches and each maintain- 
ing its Sunday school. It was during the summer of 
1865 that there was held in a beautiful grove adjoin- 
ing Alto a celebration of rather more than ordinary 
merit. It was an all-day afifair. The forenoon was 
devoted to singing by the various schools in attend- 
ance and an address by a local celebrity. Then fol- 
lowed the picnic dinner — a sumptuous afifair requir- 
ing an hour and a half for its disposal. The after- 
noon was largely given over to recitations and the 
reading of original papers by selected members of 
the several schools. John Kern represented the Alto 
school with a paper. His theme was Temperance. 
He attacked the saloon and drunkenness in a vigor- 
ous manner. It was really an able paper and read in 
his clear, incisive and earnest manner captured the 
large audience. From every quarter the comment 
was heard that if a mere boy could make such an 
address much could be expected of him when he 
became a man. The paper was singled out for pub- 
lication in the county paper." 



Childhood and Early Youth 7 

About this time he entered the Old Kokomo 
Normal, an educational institution much superior to 
most of the Indiana schools of that period. The 
building, a commodious one, had been erected sev- 
eral years before by the people of Kokomo and the 
surrounding country with the view to giving their 
children the advantage of training in the elements 
of higher learning and to fit them for teaching in the 
public schools. The head of the school at the time 
was Prof. E. N. Fay, a college graduate and a man 
of scholarly attainments, and he had surrounded 
himself with a competent corps of assistants. While 
attending the Normal young Kern lived at his home 
in Alto, riding his horse to Kokomo in the morning 
and returning in the evening. For the sake of econ- 
omy he took his lunch with him. The six-mile stretch 
of mud road between his home and the county seat 
w^as impassable during much of the winter except 
on horseback. In zero weather the ambitious youth 
suffered severely, but having developed the habit of 
declaiming his lessons, and making speeches to his 
nag during these trips, he managed to neutralize the 
effect of the weather by vigorous gesticulation and 
an unsparing exercise of his lungs. 

At the Normal young Kern is described by Mr. 
Morrow as "a brilliant scholar but not a plodder." 
He seemed to absorb the matter of the textbooks 
without effort. 'Tn the study of English Grammar 



8 Life of John W. Kern 

he particularly excelled," writes Morrow. ''He 
studied language not to get its dull formulas, but to 
know how most forcibly and clearly to express his 
thoughts." 

It was during his Normal days that Kern deter- 
mined definitely upon the study of law. 

While Doctor Kern would have defrayed the ex- 
penses of his son's legal education, the latter was of 
an independent nature and preferred to pay his own 
way. With the view to making the money required 
for a course of legal instructions in a university, he 
took the examination for a teacher's license before 
he was sixteen, and while the examination was con- 
ducted by Rawson Vaile, a graduate of Amherst 
College and a stickler for thoroughness, he made a 
very high grade and was granted a twenty-four 
months' license, which was the highest permissible 
by the county examiner. Here enters the pedagogue. 

Ill 

The young teacher took charge of his first school 
at the age of fifteen, and taught two terms, but in 
different schools, as he never failed to observe in 
later years in an attempt to belittle his professional 
ability. His first experience as a teacher was in the 
home school at Alto, and in the winter of '66-7 he 
taught in what is still popularly known as "the old 
Dyar school house," about three miles east of Alto, 



Childhood and Eakly Youth 9 

in the country. The John Kern of this period is de- 
scribed by one of the students as "tall, straight, boyish 
in appearance, not particular in his personal appear- 
ance, usually having his trousers over a boot strap." 
Those still living who knew the future senator as a 
country school teacher take issue with his own esti- 
mate of his success. His methods of instruction were 
those of an original thinker, and ignoring the hard 
and fast rules, he succeeded in creating an interest 
among the students with gratifying results. I am in- 
debted to Albert B. Kirkpatrick, one of his students 
who was in later years to cross swords with him at 
the bar, for some interesting recollections which re- 
flect light on the character of the youthful peda- 
gogue : 

"The school (Dyar) was large for a country 
school, about sixty, some boys and girls larger than 
the teacher. On the playgrounds Kern was one of 
the boys, and you would scarcely know from his con- 
duct that he was a teacher. One day he ordered a 
large boy to stand upon the floor and on his refusal 
Kern told him he could do that or take a whipping. 
After school he kept the stubborn rebel, together 
with two other boys as witnesses, and proceeded to 
administer the castigation which, according to re- 
port, was quite severe. One day a dispute arose as 
to the ownership of a rabbit some boy had caught. 
Kern acted as presiding judge and found that the 
boy in possession of the rabbit was not the rightful 



10 Life of John W. Kern 

owner, and fixed as his punishment the restoration of 
the rabbit and the infliction of lashes, which he pro- 
ceeded to lay on. 

"Kern was good in the common school branches, 
and he especially delighted to read in McGufifey's 
Sixth Reader from Patrick Henry and other oratori- 
cal notables. He was fine in the school house debates 
and generally covered about half the school house in 
his orations, gesticulating wildly and speaking at the 
top of his voice. 

"He was not methodical in his teaching, but orig- 
inal, and the students seemed to learn rapidly. They 
liked him, as a rule, although he did not then pos- 
sess those remarkable social qualities that character- 
ized him in after years." 

The "school house debates" referred to were fea- 
tures of the Dyar school literary and debating so- 
ciety, which owed its existence to Kern's initiative 
and bore the pretentious name of the Platonian. It 
was during the period when the country was torn 
over the problems of reconstruction, and these fur- 
nished the topics for the debates. The sixteen-year- 
old teacher invariably took part, and his chief com- 
petitor was usually Jesse Yager, described as "a solid, 
substantial citizen of the community and a man of 
great ability." In these discussions Kern invariably 
took a positive stand in favor of a liberal policy to- 
ward the white people of the southern states who 



Childhood and Eakly Youth 11 

had returned to their allegiance, and the carpet bag- 
ger usually came in for an unmerciful scoring. One 
who often heard him in those days, Jackson Morrow, 
in recalling the earnestness and vigor of the boy 
orator, expresses the opinion that these speeches 
"would have reflected credit upon the best statesmen 
of the period." Such views as were held and advo- 
cated by the young school teacher were bold indeed 
for the time and place. Passions still ran high, and 
Howard county was extreme in its republicanism of 
the Thad Stevens variety. Strangely enough, the 
boldness of the pedagogue in no wise detracted from 
his personal popularity and served to enhance his 
reputation. Many years afterward, when Kern, soon 
after his nomination for vice-president, returned to 
Kokomo to meet his old friends and neighbors in a 
great non-partisan reception, Jesse Yager, his po- 
lemic adversary of the Platonian days, then a very 
old man, occupied a place on the platform. 

It was during the summer of 1866 that the peda- 
gogue, a member of the "Alto Dramatic Society," 
made his first and only appearance "on any stage" as 
an actor in "The Demons of the Glass." Mr. Mor- 
row gives an interesting description of the occasion. 

"The entertainment," he writes, "was held on a 
delightful summer evening in a grove not far from 
the village of Alto. The stage was built of rough 



12 Life of John W. Kern 

lumber and lighted by kerosene lamps, but a full 
moon flooding the landscape with a mellow light, and 
the great spreading tops of centuries-old forest trees 
gave this primitive stage a beauty and dignity hard 
to surpass. The show was free and the people came 
en masse from far and near, and when the curtain 
rose on the entertainment a very large audience was 
waiting. Kern was easily the star of the evening. So 
realistic was his acting of the husband and father 
becoming a drunkard and bringing poverty and ruin 
on a happy home, that an unpleasant sadness stole 
over the audience and a strong temperance lesson 
was impressed upon the people present. As a boy 
John Kern was an enthusiastic 'dry.' " 

It was toward the close of his last term of teaching 
that he became an active member of the Methodist 
church, the occasion of his conversion being a revival 
meeting held at Albright's chapel. For a time he 
became deeply religious, taking his church duties 
with a seriousness that attracted attention. This os- 
tentatious spirit of worship soon passed. 

During these teaching days, when the young peda- 
gogue was preaching temperance, damning the radi- 
calism of the Thad Stevens, protesting against car- 
petbag government in the southern states, practicing 
his embryo eloquence upon debating societies in the 
woods, and experiencing a spiritual awakening, he 
v/as attracting attention throughout the community 




Dr. Jai.iI! H. Kkkn 



John \V. Kkkn- 

At tlie University of Michigan 

Kern's Birthplace as It Appearkd in 1908 



Nancy Kern 



Childhood and Early Youth 13 

and county as a youth of precocious ability and rare 
gifts. This did not affect his natural modesty or his 
relations with young people of his own age. The 
society of Alto and the neighborhood could scarcely 
be described as "fashionable," but its members were 
genuine and its friendships real. Writing of his boy- 
ish characteristics, Mr. Morrow says: "His friend- 
ship was steady and faithful. I never knew him to 
cut a friend as the mood or occasion might suggest. 
He appeared to always meet his friend with a smile 
and a friendly handclasp that impressed one as real, 
and he manifested his interest in helpful ways. He 
had been trained to know the value of a dollar, taught 
that it represented real value and should not be 
squandered, but if he met a friend in need and he 
had a dollar in his pocket that dollar was his friend's 
at once. He had large sympathies and in a sense he 
was his brother's keeper. His general character 
never changed." 

During these pedagogue days he was giving care- 
ful attention to the selection of a college in which to 
prepare himself for the law, and his choice fell on 
the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, then the 
great school of the west, with Cooley at the head of 
the lecture corps. He had not accumulated so much 
that he did not have to carefully consider the expense 
without drawing liberally upon his father, and this 
he had determined not to do. The living expenses at 



14 Life of John W. Kern 

Ann Arbor presented an attractive prospect as well 
as the faculty, and in September, 1867, he set out for 
the university determined to make the most of his 
opportunities. 

IV 

In the latter part of the sixties the university at 
Ann Arbor ranked easily as the first educational in- 
stitution of the middle west. The faculty of the law 
department, with Thomas M. Cooley at the head, 
was in no wise inferior to that of Harvard and Yale. 
The student body was drawn from the entire Missis- 
sippi valley and beyond. The town of Ann Arbor at 
the time possessed the charm one likes to associate 
with a college town, with its pleasant homes, wide 
lawns, and fine old forest trees lining the streets. At 
the time of his matriculation young Kern, student of 
law, had not yet reached the age of eighteen, and 
here he was to spend two profitable years and receive 
his degree before reaching his twentieth birthday. 
During the two years he was compelled to economize 
in every possible way. In the telling of the story of 
his Ann Arbor days I am deeply indebted to Jackson 
Morrow, a boyhood friend, with whom he corre- 
sponded during the period and who has carefully 
preserved most of the letters written him by Kern 
from the university. These rather suggest a youth 
possessed of considerable assurance, and limited ex- 
perience, inspired by much ambition, and prone to 



Childhood and Early Youth 15 

"act up" to the role of the embryo lawyer. In his 
first letter November 3, 1867, he describes his im- 
pressions of the university. 

''I got here early on Saturday morning and pro- 
ceeded at once to the university, where I relieved 
myself of thirty-five dollars, and received a paper 
which entitles the bearer to a full course of law lec- 
tures in the University of Michigan. With a light 
heart and a materially lightened pocketbook, I then 
sought a boarding house, which we found at Mrs. 
Cramptons, in the east part of the city, where we 
now are paying $4.12^/^ per week, or, as the people 
here would term it, four dollars with a shillin'. We 
have a good boarding house, good rooms, good fires, 
good appetites, etc. 

"Well, the Monday following I wended my way 
to the Law building, where I listened to my first 
lecture by Hon. Thomas M. Cooley. Since then I 
have attended two each day, sometimes delivered by 
Cooley, and sometimes by one of the other professors 
of law — Campbell, Walker and Pond. The number 
of students here this winter is hardly so great as last, 
owing, no doubt, to the hard times, as the number of 
students in all the colleges of the country has mate- 
rially decreased since last year. Their general library 
here, which is free to all, contains over 30,000 vol- 
umes and is the best place for reading I was ever in. 

*T received a letter from Sturgis the other day. 
He is, as usual, in all his glory. A short time ago he 
wrote me giving his views politically, and, as they 
did not just suit me, I sat down and gave the gentle- 



16 Life of John W. Kern 

man the benefit of sixteen pages of foolscap contain- 
ing some sound old Democratic doctrine which I 
guess he profited by, as he has held his peace ever 
since." 

It will be noted that the Kern, the law student in 
his teens, was quite as partisan as in his earlier boy- 
hood, and nothing in these letters to Morrow is more 
interesting than the sidelights they throw upon his 
political views. 

In his next letter, written three weeks later, he 
describes the method of instruction in the law de- 
partment, and gives his correspondent, who had suc- 
ceeded him as teacher in the Dyar school, some sound 
advice as to handling the obstreperous "scholars." 

"I was glad to learn that you had become teacher 
in Dist. No. 8, Taylor township, and wish you the 
greatest success in your undertaking. I think before 
spring you will appreciate some of my last winter's 
trials. The scholars, however, are generally well dis- 
posed and are not naturally vicious. My advice is 
not to spare the rod, but crack the whip under their 
bellies whenever they deserve it. ... I sympathize 
deeply with every school teacher, knowing as I do the 
responsibility resting upon them. I think I have done 
my last teaching unless I ignobly fail in the study of 
law. I am well pleased with the study so far — as the 
mode of instruction here makes very pleasant what 
would otherwise appear intricate and difficult. We 
here not only get a theoretical but a practical knowl- 



Childhood and Early Youth 17 

edge of the law, for we have club courts, so that every 
student may have ample opportunity of displaying 
his legal knowledge. I have been an attorney in four 
cases and have another in the Indiana Club court 
next Saturday. Prof. Moses Coit Tyler, professor of 
rhetoric and elocution in the literary department, 
lectures to us twice a week on elocution. This is a 
great advantage to us. . . . Our little winter that 
we had some days ago has vanished and we are now 
having a delightful Indian summer — warm and 
smoky. From all appearances the climate here is 
not so disagreeable as that of Indiana in the winter 
season. . . ." 

Two weeks later he had changed his opinion of 
the charms of a Michigan winter and was suffering 
with a cold, which did not prevent him, however, 
from giving Morrow the advantage of his eighteen 
years' experience in the world on the proper method 
of maintaining discipline in a country school. His 
reference to the girls about Alto and Kokomo indi- 
cates that he was not entirely immune to the charms 
of the sex. 

"The present juncture finds me very unwell, suf- 
fering from a miserably bad cold and a very severe 
sore throat. . . . We now are enjoying (?) the 
stern realities of a northern winter — chief among 
which are overcoats, overshoes, comforters, cold feet, 
frosted ears, etc. The ground is covered with snow 
to the depth of two or three inches and skating is the 



18 Life of John W. Kern 

chief amusement. They have a skating park here, 
and it is thronged every evening. 

"I w^as glad to hear that you and the school v^ere 
progressing finely — I would advise you to show a 
bold front — use the hickory and beech when needed, 
and you will succeed, for the students generally are 
well disposed. 

"You have my very best wishes in the reorganiza- 
tion of the Platonian. I would like to be with you 
a while and excrete a 'few gas.' You may tell Mr. 
Madison Jackson that my days of sleigh riding are 
over for the present, but were I in Indiana I should 
very much enjoy such a tear as we had that night. 
You may also tell Em— that 'sparking' is old and has 
played out, especially sparking in the rain. When 
I get home I may do some little of it and she had 
better look out. . . ." 

In his next letter dated after the first of the year 
1868 he refers to his holiday dissipation at Detroit 
and at Windsor in Canada, and the reader will prob- 
ably smile at the nineteen-year-old globe trotter's 
careful explanation of the location and character of 
Detroit: 

"We have had on the whole a very pleasant vaca- 
tion — though rather dull at times — and our lectures 
commence again to-morrow, and I'm very glad of it. 
We have a good sleighing snow now, and as I write 
I hear the sleigh bells jingling as merrily as can be. 
I don't indulge in the luxury of sleighing this winter, 
as it is really a dear luxury — only $1.50 per hour. 



Childhood and Early Youth 19 

"Well, on the 31st of December, the last day of the 
old year, I got aboard the 8 A. M. train east and went 
down to the metropolis of Michigan, i, e., Detroit, 
which is pleasantly situated thirty-eight miles east 
of here on the Detroit river. It is a city of about one 
hundred thousand inhabitants — and is improving 
very rapidly. . . . After we had explored Detroit 
very thoroughly we went across the river into Queen 
Vic's dominions and landed in a town of about two 
or three thousand inhabitants called Windsor — noted 
as being the stopping place of C. L. Vallandigham. 
Canada is a stinking place — two-thirds of the people 
in Windsor are Americans of African descent, while 
the rest are full-blooded Britishers who in point of 
cleanliness are in no way superior to the "cullid" 
folks. I got enough of Canada in a short time and 
recrossed into Uncle Sam's domain, took the 4 o'clock 
train for Ann Arbor, where I arrived at 6, being sat- 
isfied to remain there till the 28th March, when I 
will make my exit for Alto, the city on the hill. . . ." 

The next of the Morrow letters, written in Janu- 
ary, 1868, is especially interesting, in that it discloses 
the budding politician and slate maker engaged in 
the determination of the personnel of the national 
Democratic ticket for the campaign of that year. In 
the upper left-hand corner of the envelope he had 
neatly printed his ticket: 

For President 

Geo. H. Pendleton 

For Vice Pres. 

Chas. O'Connor 

of N. Y. 



20 Life of John W. Kern 

In this letter he grows enthusiastic over the action 
of the Indiana Democracy in nominating Thomas A. 
Hendricks for governor. 

"Since receiving your letter I had a little sick spell, 
had a doctor to see me, v^ho very kindly cured me 
and relieved me of six shillin's. We are now having 
splendid winter weather — just snow enough to make 
good sleighing and just cool enough to make one 
cooly comfortable without an overcoat. Time is fly- 
ing by very — very rapidly. The four and a half 
months that I have remained here have glided by 
so rapidly and so merrily that I can but look back 
upon them with surprise and wish, that they were 
here again. I have only about nine weeks to stay 
here, when I shall take my departure for Alto to 
realize the comforts of sweet, sweet home. ... I 
see that the Democracy of Indiana have nominated 
a strong ticket with Hendricks as standard bearer. 
I think in the present or coming campaign we can 
vanquish the Radicals, defeat their candidate for 
governor, place T. A. Hendricks in the guberna- 
torial chair, send Dan Voorhees to the senate and 
Judge Lindsay to congress — restore the constitution 
and laws to their proper place, elect George H. Pen- 
dleton president of the United States, and then throw 
out the sails and the old ship of state will move on 
more smoothly than it has done since the Democratic 
party surrendered the country to the Radicals to be 
worked over." 

Less than three weeks later, February 12, 1868, 
the young slate maker had found it well to remove 



Childhood and Early Youth 21 

Chas. O'Connor from the national ticket as a candi- 
date for the vice-presidency and on the envelope of 
his next letter we find with Pendleton the name of 
John P. Stockton of New Jersey. We are left in 
doubt as to how O'Connor had lost the support of 
the embryo politician or the reasons for the new par- 
tiality for Stockton. In this letter we get an inkling 
of some of the advantages Ann Arbor offered to a 
young man of Kern's ambitions and tastes. It was 
about this time that he had the opportunity of hear- 
ing Cough's lecture on oratory, of listening to Wen- 
dell Phillips lecture on "The Lost Arts" and of hear- 
ing E. P. Whipple. In this letter, too, we have the 
sole reference to Kern's participation in the work of 
the debating societies. It is not surprising to find 
that this uncompromising Democrat should have 
joined the "Douglas Society." 

"We are now having splendid weather — good 
sleighing, fine skating, nice walking — in fact, every- 
thing that nature has anything to do with is con- 
ducive to a fellow's happiness. 

"On Monday night John B. Cough lectured here 
on 'Eloquence and Oratory.' He is a splendid lec- 
turer and his lecture, which was two hours and a 
quarter in length, was a success — all except the last 
quarter of an hour, when he exhorted the young men 
of the university to use all their eloquence in procur- 
ing for the down-trodden African the election fran- 
chise. The applause from the Rads was vociferous, 



22 Life of John W. Kern 

while from my corner came a little puny hiss. E. P. 
Whipple lectures here next Tuesday night, and on 
Saturday night Wendell Phillips speaks on 'The 
Lost Arts.' 

"We have some good literary societies in connec- 
tion with the Law Department. I belong to the 
'Douglas.' On last Saturday night we discussed the 
question, 'Resolved that the reconstruction policy of 
congress is unwise and inexpedient.' " 

In the debate on the reconstruction policy of con- 
gress young Kern led the debate in opposition to 
the policy. His attitude toward negro suffrage at 
this time was the position of his party, but the oppo- 
sition was not wholly confined to Democrats. It was 
a time when party feeling ran high. Political dis- 
cussions were bitter and frequently were followed 
by blows. Kern in his teens was a radical Democrat 
and never mentioned the Republicans as anything 
other than Radicals. In later life he was friendly to 
the colored race, but fifty years before he had been 
an extremist in his position on the proper political 
status of the negro. His radicalism was not moder- 
ated by the tone of the Republican press and speak- 
ers of the time. Many years later in speaking in the 
senate he referred to the time he had heard Zack 
Chandler, the great Republican leader of Michigan, 
making a political address in Ann Arbor, make the 
statement: 



Childhood and Early Youth 23 

"Democrats talk a good deal about their rights. I 
recognize the fact that they have rights which they 
are entitled to enjoy, at least two rights — one a con- 
stitutional and the other a divine right — a constitu- 
tional right to be hung and a divine right to be 
damned." 

It is not remarkable that with men of age and ex- 
perience indulging in language of this character that 
a nineteen-year-old partisan should have found it 
provocative of retaliation. 

In his last letter from Ann Arbor, January i, 1869, 
we find him preparing his thesis on "The Dissolu- 
tion of Agency," studying hard for his examinations, 
seriously considering a location for the display of his 
professional prowess, and instructing his friend Mor- 
row as to the most direct route to Ann Arbor and 
warning him against the "abominable thieves" at 
Grand Trunk Junction — leaving one with the im- 
pression that he may have had an unpleasant en- 
counter with the tribe. 

"Your letter was received a few days ago and on 
this, the first day of the New Year, I seat myself to 
answer it. Eighteen hundred and sixty-nine was ush- 
ered in by a snowstorm, which had the effect of keep- 
ing the people off the streets and giving them quite 
a desolate appearance. I have been very busy ever 
since I left Indiana and am at present putting in all 
my time writing a thesis on 'The Dissolution of 



24 Life of John W. Keen 

Agency,' which calls into requisition all my legal 
knowledge. . . . 

"We senior law students don't have quite so fine a 
time as we did last winter. Then all we had to do 
was to sit and listen to lectures, but now we are 
quizzed each morning on the lectures of the pre- 
ceding day, and after holidays we will be examined 
every afternoon on last winter's lectures, to wind up 
with an examination of five days at the close of the 
term. Rather a gloomy prospect, isn't it? 

"I have no particular fears but that I shall get 
through all right and come out a veritable LL. B. 
I have thought considerably in regard to my future 
operations and have concluded to go into business at 
Tipton, Indiana, for a while at least. It's rather a 
hard town, but as it is young and growing there are 
hopes for it. I had intended to locate in Iowa until 
after the November elections. That 30,000 majority 
in favor of negro suffrage staggered me. 

"In coming out here you had better start on the 
afternoon train from Kokomo, come to Peru, and 
then to Toledo, buy a ticket for Grand Trunk Junc- 
tion, which is three miles from Detroit. There you 
will connect with the Michigan Central Road, and 
will probably be at Ann Arbor on the 7 P. M. train. 
Write me the day you start and the train you start on 
and I'll be at the depot. At Grand Trunk Junction 
keep a lookout for your watch and pocketbook, for 
there are a set of abominable thieves there. 

"Ann Arbor is all right, as is the university. Af- 
fairs are rather dull just now owing to the fact that 



Childhood and Early Youth 25 

a large proportion of the students have gone home 
to spend the holidays. Two of our law students, in 
order to pass away the time the other day, engaged 
in the luxury of a fight. The result was that one of 
them was badly threshed. As they were both Demo- 
crats it was a rather unfortunate afifair. . . ." 

Fortunately for the biographer, when Kern re- 
ceived his degree and returned to Howard county, 
his friend Morrow left Howard for Ann Arbor and 
the correspondence was continued for a time. In a 
letter dated April 4th, 1869, ^e gives a "short sketch 
of his meanderings" after leaving Ann Arbor, re- 
turning by way of Toledo and Peru, and finding 
"Howard county literally capped with mud." "No- 
body," he adds, "pretends to travel with a wagon — 
such would be impossible. I never saw such a stretch 
of muddy country in all my eventful career." But 
"notwithstanding the mud," he found things "rather 
lively," with many of the young women of the neigh- 
borhood calling to inspect the new attorney in their 
midst. "I have as yet made no definite arrangements 
as to practicing," he writes. "I am thinking of going 
in with Milton Bell or Clark N. Pollard"— this 
probably being written in a spirit of fun, as the two 
men mentioned were prominent members of the bar. 
In the next sentences he adds — "If I don't go in with 
them I will go into a firm with John Worth Kern, 
LL. B." He was not in the best of health at the time 



26 Life of John W. Kern 

of his graduation, and he writes Morrow: "My 
health is no better than when I left. My cough 
doesn't get much better. I have taken a whole bottle 
of medicine since I have been here." 

Hardly had he reached his home when his neigh- 
bors arranged for a speech from the neighborhood 
prodigy, and the young lawyer, having prepared it 
with a care becoming the importance of the occasion, 
went out into the woods near by, where he was prac- 
ticing it with much vigor of gesticulation and ex- 
penditure of lung power when a neighborhood girl, 
passing the outskirts of the wood on her way to the 
house "with the two front doors," saw him without 
recognizing either the man or the occasion. Rush- 
ing breathessly into the Kern home, she explained 
that she had encountered "a crazy man" in the woods 
making all sorts of unearthly noises. 

"Oh, he's not crazy," said Sally Kern smiling, 
"that's only John practicing his speech." 

A little later the shingle of "John W. Kern — 
Attorney at Law" was hung at Kokomo. 



CHAPTER II 
KoKOMO Days— Lawyer and Citizen 



AS we have seen it was Kern's intention at one 
J~\. time to begin the practice of his profession in 
Iowa — a plan that was abandoned when the state 
went overwhelmingly for the "radical program." 
Before leaving Ann Arbor we have noted his plan 
to establish an office at Tipton, Indiana. The process 
of reasoning which soon eliminated Tipton from con- 
sideration and led to his opening an office in the 
county seat of his native county about the first of 
May, 1869, when he fell seven months short of his 
twentieth birthday, is set forth in the following letter 
to Morrow, then at Ann Arbor: 

"Since I came home I have done nothing and yet 
have been awfully busy too. I was at Tipton one day 
last week looking for a location. That is, I went 
there for the purpose of looking around. As soon as 
I got off the train and cast a glance up the principal 
street I persuaded myself that Tipton was no place 
for an LL. B. A stump puller or a mud dauber 
might do an extensive business there. I will open a 
law office in Kokomo in about ten days. My office 
will be in the Nixon block. I will go in partnership 
with John W. Kern, a young man of promise. 



28 Life of John W. Kern 

"Our folks are all going on a visit to the Old Do- 
minion to be gone all summer. They will start in 
about a week from to-morrow, and I will be left a 
disconsolate orphan. In selecting Kokomo as a place 
wherein to practice I pondered long and well over 
the matter, and it was only from words of encourage- 
ment from a number of the substantial men of the 
county that I determined. I don't expect to do much 
at first, but by a close attention to my business I ex- 
pect in a few years to make my expenses. The people 
in this part of the country are all lively as crickets. 
... I only got my books day before yesterday — • 
just two weeks on the road. . . . The work on the 
new court house has commenced again. It will be a 
magnificent edifice. . . ." 

The office was opened about the first of May with 
a complete new set of the Indiana Reports which his 
father had presented him with. "I still remember 
how his eyes sparkled," writes Morrow, "when he 
told me that his father intended to give him a com- 
plete set of the reports." Two months later he had 
less modest notions of his possibilities in his profes- 
sion. He had participated in several cases and gained 
confidence, both in his ability to get business and his 
capacity to handle it. In a letter to Morrow, written 
early in June, he discloses the budding of social as- 
pirations and for the first time mentions the girl who 
was soon to become his wife: 



KoKOMO Days — Lawyer and Citizen 29 

"We are now having delightful weather, good 
roads, and lots of fun. The society in Kokomo is 
much better than it used to be, and is such that a man 
who mingles with it much inevitably enjoys himself. 
I have renewed my old acquaintance with the ladies, 
and yesterday two of them. Misses Whenett and Haz- 
zard, came up and spent an hour in sweet commu- 
nion with me in my office. I have an invitation to 
call on both of them and will certainly avail myself 
thereof. Although my practice is not so lucrative as 
I could desire, it is much better than I anticipated 
when I commenced. I have helped try two cases in 
the circuit court, three in the mayor's court, and am 
doing a good business in collecting. I am at least 
making a very comfortable living. I find that I am 
somewhat deficient in the practical part of the law, 
but by hard study and close observation will remedy 
that before a great while. I am convinced that Ko- 
komo is the best opening for a young man in the 
west. There is a vast amount of litigation in the 
county and but comparatively few lawyers. The 
only trouble I have here is that there is a disposition 
on the part of some young men in this town to make 
my office their headquarters. There is one of these 
d — d lazy hounds sitting here now — making himself 
more at home than I do. If he doesn't leave in fifteen 
minutes I will order him out. The initials of this 
name are X-Y-Z — too trifling to pound sand. . . . 
That young man I spoke of a moment ago has just 
taken his leave. Darn his infernal loafing carcass. 
He didn't receive much comfort this morning. . . ." 



30 Life of John W. Kern 

The reference to the disposition of young men to 
make his office their headquarters probably reflects 
an indignation he did not really feel. From the mo- 
ment he opened an office in Kokomo he became the 
idol of the younger element, and his popularity with 
"the boys" was to be invaluable in establishing his 
leadership in politics and his popularity at the bar, 
but to carry with it disadvantages due to the con- 
viviality of the town and times. It was before the 
days of clubs, and during the first ten years of his 
practice his office was made to serve as a club for the 
younger element, young lawyers, doctors, and others 
with no such fixed means of support. Here in the 
evening and on Sunday afternoons the clan regularly 
gathered to solve the problems of society, indulge in 
chat, and games. Always a social being, young Kern 
enjoyed these afternoons and evenings, and friend- 
ships were made on these occasions that remained 
steadfast through life. 

From the moment he opened an office the young 
lawyer was remarkably successful. He was generally 
looked upon by the people of Howard county as a 
genius. In eloquence before a jury he surpassed 
the older members of the bar. And the winsome 
geniality of his personality extended his acquaint- 
ance and increased his popularity. He was fol- 
lowed about by groups of young friends and the 
older element not only conceded him to be rarely 



KoKOMO Days — Lawyer and Citizen 31 

gifted, but gave him every possible encourage- 
ment. The town was not so large that the proceed- 
ings of the courts were not the subjects of con- 
versation and the lawyer, especially if young, who 
could make juries laugh and cry, and play pranks on 
court and bar, and get verdicts, became something of 
a hero. During the first year or two the most of his 
cases were tried in the justice of the peace courts, 
which were then far more important than they are 
to-day. Here the race went to the man who knew 
human nature, possessed an eloquent tongue, a quick 
resourceful mind, and plenty of assurance. Having 
in mind this period of his career, C. C. Shirley, at 
one time a member of the law firm of former United 
States Attorney-General Miller at Indianapolis, but 
previous to that a member of the Howard bar, 
writes : 

"Instinctively I knew him then as one who had 
been touched with the fires of genius. I think every 
one who knew him at that time looked upon him as 
strangely gifted, although some of those who recog- 
nize his unusual gifts were inclined to poohpooh 
their importance. They spoke of him as the 'boy 
wonder,' the 'infant prodigy,' etc., and one particular 
characterization I heard when I was a small boy, 
which has stuck in my memory, I recall. Kern had 
just been admitted to the bar and had made an argu- 
ment in a jury case which was highly praised and 
caused much comment among those who knew him 



32 Life of John W. Keen 

well and naturally were proud of his quick success 
as a lawyer. I don't know that the case itself was of 
much importance, but it was of a character to furnish 
a good vehicle. It was a neighborhood sensation. 
The particular note of derogation, I recall, was the 
remark of a village wiseacre to this effect, 'Oh, John 
Kern is just like a wasp — bigger when he was born 
than he will ever be again.' Rather a fine tribute, 
after all, although unintentional and unconscious, 
since it shows that even then skeptics had observed 
that he was not at all like a boy of twenty — possibly 
twenty-one, but not more. As for myself, I looked 
upon him as already a great man and never missed a 
chance to hear him speak, either on public occasions 
like old settlers' meetings, at which he was often 
heard, or in neighborhood lawsuits before justices of 
the peace, which was the only forum I then had a 
chance to visit. 

"The interests there involved now seem pitifully 
trivial, but they often meant almost life and death to 
the litigants — the family cow — or the chattel mort- 
gaged cook stove, or the month's wages. And on just 
such occasions as these, when humor or pathos were 
so closely blended, Kern, at that time, was facile 
princeps among the lawyers of the county, though he 
was barely of age. I know the impression he made 
on me was that his client was always right and much 
wronged by the highly reprehensible persons on the 
other side. ... I learned that his wonderful skill 
in marshaling the facts and circumstances, added to 
his real genius for pathos, ridicule and invective, 
when these weapons could be used to advantage, were 



KoKOMO Days — Lawyer and Citizen 33 

often quite as much to be feared as the merits of his 
case. He knew when to employ these weapons and 
never made the mistake so frequently observed of 
resorting to either unless there was something in the 
case which made it certain he would 'get away with 
it.' He avoided the obvious resort to such expedients 
— indeed he never seemed to employ them at all. 
This is what made him so effective when he did use 
them." 

That with all his precocity he was still essentially 
a boy during the early days of his practice is illus- 
trated in a story affecting Rawson Vaile, a leader of 
the bar, who had been editor of the Indianapolis 
Journal before the civil war. Mr. Vaile was a pol- 
ished gentleman, an Amherst graduate, something of 
an exotic for the time and place, who bore himself 
with great dignity, dressed immaculately, and al- 
ways wore a silk hat. One day in court — the court 
room crowded with Kern's young followers — while 
the young lawyer was in the midst of an argument 
to the court, he observed on the table before him the 
silk tile of the opposing attorney. Simulating much 
excitement, he brought his clenched fist down upon 
Vaile's cherished hat with such force as to mash it 
completely. The young men in the court room who 
knew that it was not accidental, but a carefully 
planned diversion for their benefit, roared their ap- 
proval, and so great was the indignation of the court 



34 Life of John W. Kern 

that but for the splendid acting of Kern in assuring 
the court of the accidental nature of the incident he 
would have been fined for contempt. 

In the little cases in the squire's courts he fought 
as stubbornly as he ever did in later life in the fed- 
eral courts of the country. One case — a suit in re- 
plevin over a red shawl — is still remembered because 
the tenacity of the boy lawyer cost the defendant 
$700 before the case was closed. Before he had been 
in practice a year, if he was not the ablest lawyer at 
the Howard bar, he was easily, among all the law- 
yers, the idol of the multitude. 



During the first year or two at the bar Kern was 
not giving his attention wholly to the practice of his 
profession. In less than a year he had taken his posi- 
tion among the political leaders of the community, 
and from that time on during his fifteen years in 
Kokomo his political and professional careers were 
so interwoven, and he distinguished himself to such 
a degree in both, that I shall, for the sake of con- 
tinuity, treat of his political activities in a separate 
chapter. Even politics and the law did not consume 
all his time. As we have seen in his letters to Mor- 
row, he had taken a keen interest in the "feminines" 
from the moment of his arrival in Kokomo. This in- 
terest soon centered on Anna Hazzard, daughter of 



KoKOMO Days — Lawyer and Citizen 35 

a well-to-do business man of the community. The 
nature of his wooing is indicated in an incident still 
remembered. On the occasion of a Sunday school 
picnic given by the Baptist church of his native vil- 
lage, he drove with Miss Hazzard to Alto, and find- 
ing a big cake offered for sale to the highest bidder, 
he determined that the prize should go to his partner 
of the evening. The contest was a lively one, but the 
young lawyer met all competitors with a raise, and 
the result was that he secured the cake for the neat 
sum of $30. 

It was soon after this that he announced in a letter 
to Morrow that he had bought "the Stewart house" 
on Main street for something over $1,600, his father 
going security, and with some show of pride de- 
scribed it as "one of the prettiest pieces of property 
in town." "This," he adds, "may look to you like 
business. Well, it does." And in a letter to Morrow 
October 18, 1870, he concludes: "Give my regards 
to Swartz and Stringer. Tell them that on the loth 
of November all that is mortal of J. W. K. is to pass 
away, as that is the day the event takes place which 
tears him from the realms of single blessedness." 

The Kokomo Tribune, in announcing the mar- 
riage, which took place at the bride's home, said: 

"Notwithstanding the ultra Democracy of John, 
there is a whole-souled manner, a generous style and 
an earnestness about him that has compelled admira- 



36 Life of John W. Kern 

tion. Besides, Mr. Kern has more than average abil- 
ity. If he shall continue to be a student, as we know 
he has been for several years, he will gain eminence. 

"What everybody says must be true. We have 
never heard a single person speak of the bride except 
in the highest terms of praise. She is intelligent, 
domestic in her habits and preferences and very good. 

"Why should not the life of such a couple be 
blessed and blest? They have the very best wishes of 
every acquaintance." 

A rather unusual announcement, but very gracious 
considering that for three months before the same 
paper had covered its editorial page with vicious 
attacks on young Kern the politician. 

Ill 

After the election of 1870 and his marriage the 
young lawyer went forward by leaps and bounds in 
his profession. In the fall of 1870, before he had 
reached his majority, he was employed as special 
prosecutor in a sensational murder case involving a 
prominent family of Kokomo. Before this Kokomo 
had suspected that he was a brilliant criminal lawyer. 
Afterward it knew it. For in this case the youth of 
less than twenty-one found himself pitted against 
two of the giants of the Indiana bar, Thomas A. 
Hendricks, his political idol, and Major Jonathan 
W. Gordon, considered by many the greatest crimi- 
nal lawyer and advocate who ever practiced in the 



KoKOMO Days — Lawyer and Citizen 37 

courts of the commonwealth. It is related that dur- 
ing the trial, which was held in an adjoining county, 
Kern became careless in his attendance in court, and 
there was a disposition to consider him out of the 
case. In indignant mood he sauntered into the court 
room just as an argument as to the admissibility of 
evidence was being made by both Hendricks and 
Gordon. Much was involved in the point and the 
two legal giants had carefully prepared for the bat- 
tle. At the conclusion of their arguments Kern arose, 
without having looked into a single book, or left his 
seat after hearing the issue, and delivered what was 
considered one of the most convincing arguments 
heard in the case, and the court sustained him. After 
that he took part in all the arguments that arose, and 
always with brilliant success. At that time he made 
of the two great lawyers pitted against him life-long 
friends and admirers. Hendricks took him aside and 
with a great show of interest advised him as to his 
course, and it was on this occasion that the great poli- 
tician made the prediction that "the time will come 
when that young man will be the leader of the Demo- 
cratic party in Indiana." 

From that time on he was engaged on one side or 
the other of every murder case and of most of the 
important criminal cases tried in Howard or the ad- 
joining counties. He developed with remarkable 
rapidity into a great trial lawyer. His eloquence, his 



38 Life of John W. Kern 

knowledge of fundamental principles, his quick 
grasp of the situation, made him a dangerous oppo- 
nent for the most experienced. In those days he was 
careless in the preparation of his cases. It was said 
of him that he could go into a case with one day's 
notice and apparently be as well prepared as though 
he had given six months to preparation. Judge Har- 
ness, his last partner in Kokomo, found him "a mas- 
ter in marshaling his facts and in getting everything 
out of a case there was in it— and frequently much 
more." He was an expert in handling witnesses, espe- 
cially in cross-examination. He was dramatic, re- 
sourceful, a master of strategy. In one case where his 
client was accused of having stolen a pocketbook, he 
secured a wallet as nearly like the one in question as 
possible, and presenting this to the prosecuting wit- 
ness pressed him for a positive identification. The 
witness walked into the trap and identified the sub- 
stitute pocketbook positively as his own, on which 
Kern presented the pocketbook in question, thereby 
putting the prosecution to rout. In another case he 
was positive that the prosecuting witness was lying 
and he carried through a fine bit of dramatic acting 
with the desired result. Without a particle of pre- 
vious evidence of the witness to rely upon, he the- 
atrically opened the drawer of the desk before him 
and pulled out a roll of blank paper. Holding this 
in his hand and looking the witness in the eye he de- 



KoKOMo Days — Lawyer and Citizen 39 

manded fiercely — "Did you not on a certain occasion 
testify so and so in this matter?" The witness, fright- 
ened at the manner of the lawyer and suspecting that 
he had been trapped completely, wilted and con- 
fessed that he had testified differently before. 

While capable of tricks of this nature he was not 
known as a "tricky lawyer" in the usual acceptance 
of the term. He was scrupulously ethical from the 
day he received his first case. This knowledge of 
human nature which made him a power in cross- 
examination made him almost irresistible before the 
jury in argument. Here he was the master. He ran 
the gamut of the emotions, passing from wit and 
humor to pathos, and then to satire, and then de- 
nunciation, keeping the jury in laughter or tears. 
Often he was able to literally ridicule a case out of 
court. 

During the Kokomo days when he was prominent 
as a criminal lawyer he was at different times pitted 
against many of the giants of the bar. To attempt 
an enumeration of even the more prominent cases 
would be irksome. Strangely enough some of his 
greatest speeches in criminal cases were for the prose- 
cution. He was of such a kindly disposition, so easily 
touched by suffering, and his sympathies were so 
readily reached that among the leading criminal 
lawyers of those days he seemed the least adapted 
to the role of prosecutor, and yet he probably figured 



40 Life of John W. Kern 

more frequently as prosecutor than any of the others. 
The older people of Tipton county still remember 
his powerful argument and remarkably forceful per- 
oration in closing for the prosecution in the murder 
case of State vs. Doles in Tipton in 1882. But a more 
interesting case is that of State vs. Hawkins, in which 
he appeared as special prosecutor at Kokomo in what 
was probably his last great criminal case in his native 
county, in 1885. Young Hawkins had been attentive 
to a young woman who had been taken out for a 
drive into the country by one of his friends and in- 
sulted. On returning to town the girl hastened to 
Hawkins w^ith the story and without more ado he 
armed himself and went in search of the friend. 
After a few words Hawkins drew his gun and shot 
his victim down in cold blood. The family of Haw- 
kins, realizing the seriousness of the situation, em- 
ployed Cooper & Harness and O'Brien & Shirley, 
leading local lawyers, and instructed them to engage 
some famous criminal lawyer from Chicago or Indi- 
anapolis. Because Senator Voorhees had been re- 
markably successful in murder cases involving 
wrongs to women, he was engaged as the leading 
lawyer for the defense. Such vigorous steps to free 
the murderer of his son led the father of the victim, 
who had befriended Kern in his younger days, to 
engage him as special prosecutor. The case attracted 
state-wide attention. There were circumstances in 



KoKOMO Days — Lawyer and Citizen 41 

the case dififerentiating it so radically from the cases 
of Mary Harris and Johnson that Voorhees was 
considerably embarrassed, but the matchless forensic 
orator exerted himself to the utmost. The closing 
arguments of Voorhees and Kern were made the 
same day, the older man speaking in the afternoon 
with his customary eloquence to a court room packed 
to suffocation, with great crowds packed tightly in 
the corridors outside and down the stairway. Kern 
closed at night in the presence of an equally great 
crowd. Never, perhaps, did he speak with greater 
power or eloquence. In the early part of his argu- 
ment he turned his batteries of ridicule upon Voor- 
hees in an effort to overcome the prestige of his name. 
So keen was this ridicule that Voorhees, hardened 
though he was by the blows of innumerable forensic 
battles, and until then, a warm friend of the younger 
man, squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, and turn- 
ing to one of his co-counsel, asked, "Is he trying to 
insult me in this community?" Assured to the con- 
trary, he settled back in his chair for a while, but, 
unable to stand it longer, he retired to the judge's 
room, where he remained during the rest of the 
speech. "Mr. Kern," writes A. B. Kirkpatrick, then 
prosecuting attorney, "was at his best and held the 
jury and audience spellbound as he swept every- 
thing before him by his irresistible logic and elo- 
quence. At its conclusion. Senator Voorhees said 



42 Life of John W. Kern 

with a qualifying adjective that it was a shame to 
have a man like John Kern make the closing speech 
in such a case. Kern easily won the laurels over the 
senator." 

The defendant was found guilty, and there are 
reasons to believe that Voorhees never forgave Kern's 
ridicule of him, and in time found a way to make his 
displeasure felt. 

During his Kokomo days the bar of Howard and 
surrounding counties, while having its full share of 
backwoodsmen, was strong in a number of excep- 
tionally able lawyers. Kern's practice extended over 
Howard, Tipton, Grant, Miami and Cass counties. 
In those days he frequently crossed swords with D. D. 
Pratt, Horace P. Biddle, Judge Nathaniel R. Lind- 
say, McDowell Van Devanter, father of the present 
justice of the United States Supreme Court, Col. 
Asbury Steele, R. T. St. John, Joseph A. Lewis, Na- 
than Overman, Joel F. Vaile, now the leader of the 
Denver bar, Dan Waugh, and of course all the lead- 
ers of the Howard bar. As a criminal lawyer he sur- 
passed them all and held his own with the greatest 
in the state. "As a criminal lawyer," writes A. B. 
Kirkpatrick, "Kern in his prime was perhaps not 
excelled in Indiana. I have seen Senator Voorhees, 
Major Gordon, John S. Duncan, Henry N. Spaan 
and Major Blackburn in the trial of criminal cases 
and in my opinion none of them excelled Kern." 



KoKOMO Days — Lawyer and Citizen 43 

Such was his status professionally during his Ko- 
komo days. 

IV 

The Kokomo of Kern's time was one of the live- 
wire towns of the state. He has himself described it 
in his address at the James Whitcomb Riley birthday 
dinner many years afterward, when he said: "And 
where did I first meet Riley? Where do you sup- 
pose I met him? Why, in Kokomo, of course! 
Where else could I have met him? What was he 
doing in Kokomo? Why did he come to Kokomo? 
Because the afflatus was in Kokomo in those days. 
The divine afiiatus, the prophetic afflatus, afflatus in 
unbroken and original packages; some in broken and 
aboriginal packages." 

When the sign "John W. Kern, Attorney at Law," 
was hung out in 1870 there were no factories as now 
and no artisan class. It was above the average of 
county seats at the time and yet they were just be- 
ginning to build streets and it was not an extraordi- 
nary sight to see wagons mired in the thoroughfares. 
There were no clubs, but the "poor man's club" was 
all too much in evidence, and the Clinton House, 
standing on the present site of the Frances Hotel,, 
was a favorite gathering place for the gossips. It 
was a paradise for the gambler — the happy hunting 
grounds of the sporty element who flocked from afar, 
flamboyant in its cheap finery, unafraid of the law 



44 Life of John W. Kern 

or the authorities, plucking the innocents without let 
or hindrance, crowding the "poor man's clubs" with 
boisterous company. And just beyond this element 
in a sort of a mysterious haze loomed a more sinister 
element supposed to be engaged in transactions 
frowned upon by the laws of state and nation. This 
was the situation during the first twelve of the fifteen 
years of Kern's residence in the town. Then some- 
thing happened that brought about a cleansing. For 
many years the most powerful citizen, politically, 
among the lower strata was a physician, who was 
highly skilled in his profession, and known profes- 
sionally over the state. He never charged the very 
poor for his services and thus he ingratiated himself 
into their affections, and he exercised a sway over 
the sporty element which was long hard to analyze. 
Many feared him without knowing why. One day, 
while mayor of the city, the police were informed by 
a traitor in his camp, who apparently feared him, 
that he proposed to burn the flour mill belonging to 
one of his enemies, and carry a leaking sack of flour 
to the home of another of his enemies, feared by the 
doctor, with the view to getting him out of the way 
by way of the penitentiary on the charge of arson. 
The police appeared at the mill as the doctor 
emerged with his sack of flour, and in his attempt 
to escape he was shot down. The incident created a 
sensation. The community was divided as to his 



KoKOMO Days — Lawyer and Citizen 45 

guilt or innocence, and to this day there are some 
who cling to his memory as to the memory of a 
martyr. But the fact was developed that the promi- 
nent physician, potential politician and mayor was 
the head and brains of a lawless gang which had been 
under the observation of the federal secret service. 
His death scattered the gang, and with the gang the 
criminal element which revolved about it. The gam- 
blers took to their heels. The new Kokomo emerged. 
But it was in the old Kokomo that John Kern passed 
his younger days. 

It was in the midst of this environment that he 
was left alone, master of his own destiny, at the age 
of twenty. For almost immediately after he began 
the practice of his profession his father, hearkening 
to the call of the Old Dominion, and taking his 
daughter Sally with him, bought a home in Gar- 
vin's Cove, a basin seven miles from Roanoke, and so 
surrounded by spurs of the Blue Ridge Mountains 
that there is but one entrance to the cove for vehicles. 
Here during the remainder of his life he lived the 
life of a recluse with his books, dogs, poultry and 
cattle, going every Sunday to church to teach a Sun- 
day school. Here in the Cove Alum church on the 
frequent occasions of John Kern's visits, the father 
listened proudly to the eloquence of the son he idol- 
ized. 

But the young lawyer was always surrounded by 



46 Life of John W. Kern 

a multitude of friends, good, bad and indifferent. 
His witticisms were passed about. His practical 
jokes were laughed over. His popularity was ex- 
traordinary. He was eagerly welcomed in every 
home. A slight figure, he had temper and it was 
known that he would ''fight at the drop of a hat," 
no matter how much larger and heavier his ad- 
versary. 

Recognized as the orator of the community, the 
young lawyer was in constant demand as a speaker 
on all imaginable occasions, from old settlers' meet- 
ings and Sunday school picnics to mass meetings to 
serve some public end. 

We shall now see in tracing the story of John 
Kern's political activities in the Kokomo days that 
when he paid tribute at a mass meeting to Garfield, 
the martyred president, he spoke as the long-recog- 
nized Democratic leader of the community. 



CHAPTER III 

As Democratic Leader of Howard, 1870- 1884 

I 

WE have intimated in the previous chapter that 
while young Kern was making his reputation 
as an orator and a leading criminal lawyer of his 
section of the state he was exceedingly active in poli- 
tics. Before he had attained his majority his tact, 
political genius, and deep-seated convictions had 
forced upon him the position of leadership, ungrudg- 
ingly bestowed by the common consent of veteran 
politicians of Howard county. Such precocity is so 
rare that the story of the rapidity with which he 
forged to the front in his twenties constitutes one of 
the most fascinating chapters of his history. And 
more important from the viewpoint of the biog- 
rapher is the light this period throws upon the prin- 
ciples that animated him throughout his life. Many 
public men enter public life in youth as radicals and 
cool gradually to a conservative old age. Others, 
rarer, begin as conservatives and gradually warm to 
radicalism. Kern began with the same general set of 
principles which characterized his public character 
at the age of sixty-eight. 

The conditions in Howard county in 1870 were 
not such as to justify high hopes of political prefer- 
ment on the part of young men affiliated with the 



48 Life of John W. Kern 

Democratic party. The normal Republican majority 
ranged from 800 to 1,400, and, considering the popu- 
lation of the county at that time, this margin of ad- 
vantage constituted an insurmountable barrier to 
Democratic aspirants for office. Nevertheless there 
were among the active Democrats of that day men 
of unusual political capacity, and several of these 
were destined to sit upon the bench of the judicial 
district and to find their fealty rewarded by election 
to state offices. The year that young Kern plunged 
into the war from which he was only to emerge al- 
most half a century later "upon his shield" the Demo- 
cratic prospects were no better than they had been 
since the civil war, but, owing to the growing dis- 
affection in the Republican ranks, and the issue of 
"reform" then coming to the fore, the more opti- 
mistic favored an aggressive contest. In March, 
1870, the Democratic County Central Committee 
was called for the purpose of organization and the 
determination of the much-mooted problem as to 
whether a straight Democratic ticket would be worth 
the ammunition. The reports of the meeting indi- 
cated that young Kern, not then of age, and one other 
man spoke earnestly in favor of a fight. And it was 
on this occasion that he was given his first official 
recognition by the party, of which he was to become 
the leader, by election to the secretaryship of the 
committee. 



As Democratic Leader of Howard 49 

In conformity with the plan then decided upon the 
county convention met in August to nominate a full 
ticket. The Kokomo Tribune, an uncompromising 
Republican paper, in describing the convention, said 
that "on Saturday a hundred or more barefoots came 
together in this city and bunglingly went through 
with a convention." The proceedings of the conven- 
tion indicate that young Kern was probably the cen- 
ter of attention, making many of the motions which 
directed the course of the delegates, and finally being 
chosen chairman of the committee on resolutions and 
entrusted with the formulation of the party platform. 
These resolutions were written largely by him, and 
after a discussion in which he participated were 
adopted much in the form in which they were sub- 
mitted. While there was something of the extrava- 
gant in part of the phrasing and something of the 
buncombe seemingly inseparable from party plat- 
forms to this day, these resolutions are indicative of 
views which in a broad sense were never abandoned 
by the then boy chairman. 

A part of these resolutions were evidently intended 
to meet local prejudices at the time, but in view of 
the absence from Howard county of any appreciable 
laboring, or artisan class, the prominence given their 
interests show that Kern's special championing of 
their rights in later life was not of new birth. The 
resolutions were adopted, and the convention di- 



50 Life of John W. Kern 

rected its attention to the nomination of a candidate 
for the legislature. 

One candidate had presented himself, an old 
farmer, who does not appear to have appealed to the 
leaders as available. At any rate C. N. Pollard, then 
a prominent lawyer and destined to the judgeship, 
placed young Kern in nomination. The boy leader 
instantly demurred, saying that while he "loved to 
work for the time-honored principles of the party" 
he was too young, had never even voted, and there- 
fore respectfully declined. Pollard in rejoinder in- 
sisted that the reasons given were not sufficient and 
ended by demanding the services of the young lawyer 
in the campaign. Milton Bell, a rising lawyer, fol- 
lowed in rejecting Kern's reasons, declaring as a rea- 
son for his nomination that he was "young, vigorous, 
fresh and able," and comparing him to the improved 
needle gun. Others followed along the same line, 
and, notwithstanding the vigorous protest of the one 
avowed candidate for the place, Kern was nominated 
by a vote of 39 to 8. 

This remarkable action in nominating a boy not 
yet of age was not a mere impulse of the convention. 
Throughout the summer of 1870 the young lawyer 
had been impressing himself upon the community, 
both by his speeches and writings. Just before the 
convention met he had established a reputation as 
an orator, and The Kokomo Democrat, in its issue of 



As Democratic Leader of Howard 51 

August 3, in referring to one of his speeches, had 
said: "We heard it. Considering the intense heat of 
the evening and the great disadvantage under which 
he spoke it was an eloquent and able efifort and so 
regarded. The court house was crowded and the 
audience went away entertaining as high an opinion 
of the Kokomo boy as ever." And during the sum- 
mer he had written articles for The Democrat over 
his initials calculated to fire the Democratic heart. 

The announcement in little more than a week after 
the convention of the "speaking dates of John W. 
Kern" with the postscript that "other speakers would 
accompany him" bears witness to the seriousness with 
which he accepted the duty thrust upon him, and it 
was not long until The Kokomo Tribune, the Repub- 
lican organ, found it advisable to devote much of its 
editorial space to attempted refutations of his argu- 
ments and to neutralizing the danger from his per- 
sonal popularity with appeals for party regularity. 
The Republicans had nominated against him Cap- 
tain Kirkpatrick, an idol of the soldiers, who were 
strong in Howard, and among Kern's first moves was 
to challenge his opponent to a series of joint debates 
— an invitation that was declined. It was the year of 
Sedan, many citizens of German extraction lived in 
Howard, and it is interesting in the light of the pres- 
ent great war to find that sentiment in Indiana w^as 
quite generally with the Prussians because of the 



52 Life of John W. Kern 

prevalent dislike for Louis Napoleon. Early in the 
campaign Kern spoke at a German celebration and 
The Tribune, evidently concerned over the possible 
effect of his speech, hastened to say: 

"John W. Kern in his speech at the German meet- 
ing on Monday night condemned in unmeasured 
terms the man or party that sympathized with Louis 
Napoleon. His sympathies were with the Prussians 
all the time. On that question John is right, but 
many of his party are against him." 

That the youth with all his enthusiasm possessed 
an abundance of practical political judgment may 
be assumed from the fact that he took cognizance of 
the overwhelming Republican majority in refusing 
to make his fight along strictly party lines, refrained 
from mentioning the parties by name, and devoted 
himself exclusively to the reform issue. This policy 
from which he refused to be diverted by the gray 
beards of the Republican party soon got on the nerves 
of the Republican organ, which was moved to say: 

"John W. Kern is not a party man now. Oh, no! 
But he was nominated by a convention called by the 
chairman of the Democratic county committee. He 
will vote for Henderson for congress, and if sent to 
the legislature for Voorhees for senator. But he ig- 
nores party! Such thin sophistry will make a fool of 
no one." 



As Democratic Leader of Howard 53 

And again we find the same fearsome note struck: 

"Kern doesn't want the voters of the county to 
allow Wildman, Jay, or Phillips to dictate how they 
shall vote, but he wants to do the dictating. John has 
put himself in the belly of the Trojan horse. As soon 
as he shall get himself inside the walls of the city he 
will turn himself loose." 

Meanwhile the editor of The Tribune and Kirk- 
patrick seemed to feel in need of all possible help 
and the Republican organ contained numerous at- 
tacks on the boy candidate under the caption "Com- 
municated." In one of these the writer described 
Kern as "a young lawyer with a reputation for two 
things — making smart speeches and smoking cigars" 
— a reputation he lived up to throughout his life. 

He closed the campaign at Alto to an audience of 
his boyhood friends, and if The Tribune is to be 
credited followed this later in the night on the streets 
of Kokomo with "a bitter partisan speech." 

The election resulted in his defeat by so small a 
margin that The Tribune editorially confessed its 
chagrin. It is to be presumed that he carried out his 
wager with Tony Jay, a Kokomo packer, and blacked 
that worthy's boots on the street in front of the Clin- 
ton House — the leading hostelry of the town. 

The campaign had firmly established his reputa- 
tion as a very young man with a very old and level 
head, possessed of eloquence, tact, political judg- 



54 Life of John W. Kern 

ment, and all the elements of leadership. And this 
before he was of age! Living as he was to do 
throughout his life in Republican communities he 
was not to attain the goal of his ambition until late 
in life, but had he lived in England and been thus 
equipped he would probably have entered parlia- 
ment like Fox and Pitt as a mere boy and gone far. 

II 

In the year 1870 the political services of the boy 
leader were not confined to preparing resolutions 
and making stirring speeches. He was the most po- 
tent factor in the establishment of a Democratic news- 
paper in Kokomo. The story of the origin of The 
Radical Democrat, which was to change its name 
later to The Kokomo Despatch and as such to take 
high rank among the party papers of the state, is 
intimately interwoven with the political history of 
Kern. In the spring of that year W. J. Turpin, anx- 
ious to establish a Democratic paper and in search 
of a location, was advised to turn his attention to 
Kokomo, and "for further information to write 
J. W. Kern." He did write to the boy leader and 
the encouragement from Kern impelled him to make 
a personal investigation, and he went to Kokomo. 
A youth of precisely Kern's age, twenty, and with- 
out a penny of capital, his project could have held 
forth little promise of a successful issue to one with 



As Democratic Leader of Howard 55 

less than Kern's bubbling buoyancy and audacity. 
He has told the story of his conference with young 
Kern in some reminiscences published in later years. 

"Mr. Kern was not yet one and twenty. He was 
literally slopping over with soul and life. Recent 
college triumphs had inspired him with a hope and 
confidence for the future. I recognized in him at 
once the uncaged Nubian lion of the community. 
Upon one point we were agreed — the capital was of 
but secondary and slight importance to the further- 
ance of our object. We closed, and from that mo- 
ment began a fervent and unabating friendship." 

On the following day Kern accompanied Turpin 
on a canvass of the town for subscriptions, heading 
the list him.self, and during the day procuring more 
than a hundred subscriptions. The Democrats were 
willing to take a risk and the Republicans could see 
no possible danger in the competition. The embryo 
editor thereupon plunged into the country townships 
with the view to increasing his circulation list, leav- 
ing with Kern the task of collecting enough real 
money to make a payment on an office. At length 
arrangements were made whereby each issue could 
be put out at a cost of $25, and a Democrat was per- 
suaded to furnish office rent free. Such was the be- 
ginning of The Kokomo Despatch. 

This, however, did not end Kern's connection with 
the paper, for he appears by Turpin's admission to 



56 Life of John W. Kern 

have been a copious contributor to the editorial col- 
umns, and throughout the remainder of his residence 
in Kokomo he was charged at various times with 
plying his pen in the interest of the party and the 
paper. When the editor sold the paper in the late 
summer of the year of its birth to Doctor Hender- 
son he acknowledged his indebtedness to Kern's pen 
in the following tribute: 

"John W. Kern has contributed much to the suc- 
cess of this enterprise. To him I shall ever feel under 
obligations, and I am also proud that the party in 
this county numbers among its young men one of so 
much earnestness and purity of purpose who prom- 
ises to be truly a Defender of the Faith." 

Thus in his twentieth year he had established the 
reputation of being the most efifective Democratic 
orator in the county, had made the most spectacular 
and brilliant campaign made by a Democrat in How- 
ard in many years, given the Republicans their first 
real scare in a generation, won recognition as a leader 
of tact and judgment, and made possible the publi- 
cation of a Democratic party organ in that wilder- 
ness of radical Republicanism. 

Ill 

In the spring of 1871 Kern's growing popularity 
was attested by his election by the city council, com- 
posed of five Republicans and three Democrats, as 



As Democratic Leader of Howard 57 

city attorney — a position to which he was to be re- 
peatedly re-elected by successive councils and with- 
out regard to the political complexion of that body. 
Although a strong partisan his winning personality 
exerted an influence beyond the party wall, and that 
generosity and geniality toward his political oppo- 
nents which was to lead Senator Beveridge years 
later to pronounce him "the Bayard of the Hoosier 
Democracy" was even then pronounced. 

In the Democratic county convention of that year 
he appears to have been a dominating factor. It was 
the year when thousands of old-fashioned Democrats 
found in party regularity a bitter hardship because 
of the nomination of Horace Greeley for the presi- 
dency. Even Voorhees in a speech acquiescing in the 
nomination acknowledged the bitterness of the pill. 
This lead to the appearance of a new Kokomo news- 
paper called The Liberal, with Kern's name at the 
head of the editorial columns, and described by The 
Kokomo Tribune as "a lively little paper full of 
Democracy, Greeleyism, Hendrickism and what- 
you-call-it." It does not appear from the newspapers 
of that year that he participated very actively in the 
speaking campaign, but he was evidently in the midst 
of things from the occasional references of the Re- 
publican paper to his activities. Thus in describing 
a Democratic rally The Tribune pictures him on 
horseback "riding along the procession urging cheers 



58 Life of John W. Kern 

for Hendricks," the nominee for governor; and at 
another Democratic meeting he is described as ve- 
hemently urging the unresponsive crowd to give 
"three cheers for Greeley" and to "go up-stairs and 
hear C. N. Pollard." 

By 1874 we find his position as the Democratic 
leader in Howard assured and as the sole representa- 
tive of the county he was attending caucuses of the 
State Committee at Indianapolis. In the county con- 
vention of that year he was the general in command. 
The papers reported that out of the thirty-two mo- 
tions made all were made by Kern but three. It had 
by this time come to be the custom to top off all 
county conventions in Howard with a ringing party 
exhortation from the boy leader, and in '74 he was 
still harping on the necessity for "reform," though 
now with special reference to the conditions in the 
court house. "Kern was then called for and spoke on 
the subject of reform," wrote the editor of The 
Tribune, "If he had lived in the days of the Refor- 
mation he would have been the head and front of 
that movement. As a reformer Kern is a success." 
It. was in this campaign that he pounded the Repub- 
lican machine of Kokomo with such vigor as to cause 
evident distress. The county officials had been ob- 
sessed with a mania for supplying their offices not 
only with the necessities but with all the luxuries 
obtainable. He brought all his withering power of 



As Democbatic Leader of Howard 59 

ridicule to bear upon arm rests, paper weights, dust- 
ers, fancy stationery and numerous other articles 
deemed non-essential by the average Howard county 
farmer of that day, but his greatest scorn was re- 
served for the "McGill machine." This was a new 
invention for clamping papers together, and it was 
Kern's policy in addressing an audience in the coun- 
try to dwell at great length and in awesome fashion 
upon the "McGill machine" until his farmer audi- 
ence had conjured up a picture of something resem- 
bling in general outline a threshing machine, and 
then to spring the tiny machine upon them with the 
rather fancy price paid for it by the commissioners. 
He succeeded in making the "McGill machine" an 
issue in the campaign, the bone of hot contention, 
and every one who was not indignant over the pur- 
chase was laughing about it. 

IV 

The "paramount issue" in the campaign of 1876 
was reform. It swept the country like a tidal wave. 
It made logical and inevitable the nomination of 
Samuel J. Tilden, the great reform governor of New 
York for the presidency by the Democrats. It played 
havoc with the ambitions of several worthy men in 
Indiana who had been guilty of petty extravagances 
in office but whose personal probity was no protec- 
tion against the hysteria of the hour which pilloried 



60 Life of John W. Kern 

them as unworthy of public favor and erased their 
names from the party tickets. It was the year that 
the Republicans thought they were disgracing God- 
love S. Orth, as honorable a man as ever lived, by 
removing him from the head of their ticket when 
they were only shaming themselves ; and the Demo- 
crats assumed that they were advertising their virtue 
by driving from their judicial ticket such honorable 
men and able jurists as Judges Buskirk, Downey and 
Pettit, when they were only exposing their weakness. 
There was, in those days, ample justification for the 
cry of reform, and we have seen that before he had 
attained his majority Mr. Kern had been strongly 
impressed with the necessity of it, but, like many 
good movements, it went to extremes, and we shall 
see that the young Kokomo leader shared in this 
weakness with many others. 

We first find him active in '76 in the county con- 
vention of Howard, where he was the dominating 
figure, and delivered what appears to have been a 
long and forceful speech on his favorite topic of re- 
form. The Tribune merely quoted one sentence from 
this speech to the effect that "the Democracy dis- 
owns Ben Hill," with the comment that both Hill 
and Kern would be at the St. Louis convention, "Hill 
as a big whale and Kern as a tadpole." The spicy 
editor was also grateful for the length of the speech, 
which "gave the reporters plenty of time to do real 



As Democratic Leader of Howard * 61 

work on really important matters;" and another com- 
ment on the convention was to the effect that "the 
following persons took prominent part in the con- 
vention: John W. Kern, K. W. Yern, K. J. Wern, 
J. Kern Worth, etc." The same year Kern was rec- 
ognized by the state Democracy by his selection for 
the secretaryship of the state convention at Indian- 
apolis. It was a convention characterized by great 
enthusiasm. Party leaders addressed the throngs 
from the balconies of hotels, and The Indianapolis 
Journal, in describing this manifestation of earnest- 
ness and enthusiasm, said that the party leaders spoke 
everywhere "from Voorhees, who spoke from the 
balcony of the Grand all the way down to one Kern 
of Kokomo, who was found haranguing a group of 
hack drivers from a soap box on Indiana avenue." 
No better evidence of the partisan bitterness of that 
historic year could be asked than the fact that The 
Kokomo Tribune described the proceedings under 
the headline — "Hoodlums." 

It was a little after the state convention that the 
young leader from Howard attracted state-wide at- 
tention by the ferocity of his attack upon Judge Wor- 
den of the supreme court in the district convention 
at Muncie. Few abler men have ever sat upon the 
bench, and none of greater personal or official prob- 
ity, but the members of the supreme court had been 
guilty of the unpardonable extravagance of having 



62 Life of John W. Kern 

purchased stationery and some of the conveniences 
for their offices and one by one as they appeared for 
renomination they were retired until Worden made 
his successful fight in the Fort Wayne district. Many 
years afterward, a year before his nomination for the 
vice-presidency, and in an address before the Bar 
Association on "Great Indiana Lawyers," Mr. Kern 
referred to the incident as an extravaganza of his 
youth. His own description is the best one for the 
purpose here: 

"The spirit of reform was strong upon me then. 
That was in '76. I attended the convention of my 
district, which was held in Muncie. The county of 
Howard was then in the Fort Wayne district. I went 
over there determined to do what I could to purge 
the Democratic ticket of those unregenerate men 
who had brought disgrace upon the fair name of the 
party of Jefferson and Jackson. We went there, and 
the question as to whether or not Judge Worden 
should be removed was presented on a motion to ad- 
journ. Allen county (the home of Worden) was there 
in force. About 200 shouters were there. They knew 
more about politics than I did at that early day, and 
the discussion was heated. I waited until Judge 
Worden's champions had let loose their thunder, 
and then I proceeded to let mine loose. It did not 
occur to me that Judge Worden might be there, but 
I made a vindictive speech, because, as I say, the 
spirit of reform was strong upon me. I denounced 



As Democratic Le^vder of Howard 63 

the extravagance and profligacy of those men who 
had betrayed their trust in the bitterest and most 
vindictive terms. I had exhausted my vocabulary 
in my effort to villify those men who I thought had 
brought disgrace upon the party. And when I sat 
down a gentleman who was seated a little way in my 
rear tapped me on the shoulder. I looked around, 
and Judge Worden said to me, 'Young man, I think 
I must form your acquaintance.' "He did not change 
my vote, however, but when the vote was taken, it 
was so overwhelmingly in favor of Judge Worden 
that I finally compromised by moving to make it 
unanimous. Afterward I came to know Judge Wor- 
den better, and he was really a great lawyer." 

Attached though he was to "reform," it appears 
that he was not enamored of the candidacy of Tilden, 
and before the St. Louis convention, in the ardor of 
his opposition, which probably was born of his de- 
votion to Hendricks rather than to any real objec- 
tions to the New York governor, he made the state- 
m.ent that he would not vote for Tilden if nominated. 
The seriousness of the threat was evident in the com- 
ment of The Kokomo Tribune immediately after the 
convention : 

"John W. Kern declared upon his honor before the 
St. Louis convention that he would not vote for Til- 
den if nominated. Now he authorizes us to say that 
he is a liar and will vote for him. Of course." 



64 Life of John W. Kern 

As a matter of fact he was more active than ever 
upon the stump, not only in his own section of the 
state, but in distant parts, and the efifectiveness of his 
speeches in Howard may be judged from the unre- 
strained fury with which The Tribune assailed him 
in a personal way. It is doubtful if more bitter per- 
sonal attacks have ever been made upon any poli- 
tician anywhere or at any time, but it does not appear 
that Kern took any notice of them. The fact that the 
opposition paper referred to him in this campaign 
as "the Democratic party of Howard county" may 
throw some light upon the motives for the attack. 
Where it had previously softened its political asperi- 
ties with scarcely veiled personal admiration, it now 
spoke of him habitually as "this fellow Kern." 

Two years later, in 1878, so vicious had some of 
the Republican leaders become against him that the 
scurrilous story was circulated that at a Democratic 
meeting in Anderson he had "thanked God for the 
death of Oliver P. Morton." This was too brutal in 
its falsity for The Kokotno Tribune, which made an 
investigation and denial with the statement that 
"Kern is about as mean a Democrat as anybody . . . 
but this article is intended to give the devil his due." 
It appears that in 1880 he was not a member of any 
committee or a delegate to any convention, but later 
in the campaign he was drafted to run for prosecut- 



As Democratic Leader of Howard 65 

ing attorney, and again he ran several hundred ahead 
of his ticket without winning. 

In the county convention of 1882 we find him re- 
viewing the issues as he had done reguarly for twelve 
years. His speech this year smacked strongly of the 
position he so prominently took in later years regard- 
ing corruption in elections. Reporting the speech 
The Kokomo Despatch said: 

"He bore down heavily on the use of money at the 
polls and predicted that the time would come when 
every candidate who uses money to buy his nomina- 
tion or election will be repudiated and spewed out 
by the people." 

This practically ends his political career as a citi- 
zen of Kokomo, for the next campaign was to find 
him a candidate on the state ticket, and upon his elec- 
tion he changed his residence to Indianapolis. From 
that time, however, until his death, thirty-three years 
later, the Democracy of Howard county claimed him 
as its own, and in campaign after campaign he was 
called upon until the last one in which he ever par- 
ticipated to discuss the issues in Kokomo. 

Many stories are still told to illustrate the impres- 
sion made by the Kern of this period upon the voters 
of Howard county. One of these relates to the su- 
preme confidence of a Quaker idolater of his living 
in the Quaker stronghold of New London, where 



66 Life of John W. Kern 

Democrats were a novelty. One cold election morn- 
ing this venerable Democrat hobbled laboriously to 
the polls to be confronted by an old character of the 
village by the name of Uncle Jimmy Arnett, who 
was noted for the uncompromising bitterness of his 
Republicanism with the question: 

"How art thou this morning?" 

"My rheumatics is very bad. I could hardly get 
here." 

"Thou must be very old. How does'st thou intend 
to vote?" 

"I am past eighty, but have always voted the 
Democratic ticket since I first voted for Andy Jack- 
son." 

"Thou art old and hath but a brief time on earth 
and should make thy calling and election sure. Thou 
had'st better vote the Republican ticket." 

"I don't know that the way a man votes has much 
to do with his future spiritually," was the indignant 
reply. 

"But does'st thou not know that the Good Book 
says that 'no Democrat can enter the kingdom of 
heaven?' " 

"Well, it seems to me that the Bible does say some- 
thing like that." 

"Well, thou had'st but a short time and if the 
Good Book is true thou takest an awful risk. Thou 
had'st better vote the Republican ticket." 

"No, I will not. In fact, if John Kern was here he 
could explain all that away." 



As Democratic Leader of Howard 67 

Stories of this general nature taken from his Ko- 
komo days might be multiplied, for Kern stories have 
been plentiful in Howard for half a century. His 
popularity never waned. 



CHAPTER IV 

PvEPORTER OF THE SUPREME COURT — 1 884- 1 889 



AT the age of thirty-seven Kern took a survey of 
jlV his life and an inventory of his resources and 
found himself dissatisfied with the result. He had a 
local reputation as a young man of unusual promise 
and ability as a lawyer, was extraordinarily popular 
among his Howard county neighbors, and was 
known as a forceful and eloquent speaker among 
the Democratic leaders of the state. But his 
worldly stores were not in keeping with his ability, 
and he faced the fact that he had not properly real- 
ized on his capacity. Thus it was that in 1884 he de- 
cided to be a candidate for a state office. Actuated 
partly by the fact that it was in the line of his pro- 
fession and partly because it was at that time a highly 
remunerative office he concluded to be a candidate 
for the nomination for reporter of the supreme court. 
Already well and favorably known in his section of 
the state and among the politicians from every sec- 
tion his availability was impressed upon the democ- 
racy of every community through the publication in 
local papers of editorials "made in Kokomo" in the 
office of The Kokomo Despatch. This publicity fac- 
tory was under the management of his friend, Oscar 



Reporter of the Supreme Court 69 

Henderson, afterward auditor of state. And it did 
effective work. 

It is probable that no Democratic convention in 
the history of Indiana has ever been so distinguished 
in the personnel of its participants as was that which 
convened in English's Opera House in Indianapolis 
in the closing days of June, 1884. Although a Demo- 
cratic president had not crossed the threshold of the 
White House since Buchanan, the party in Indiana 
had never lost its courage or its militancy, and it had 
never been so spirited as during the summer of the 
year of its first national triumph in almost a quarter 
of a century. The national convention had not yet 
been held and while the reform governor of New 
York was being vigorously pushed for the presiden- 
tial nomination it was by no means certain that he 
would be nominated. At any rate it did not enter 
into the plans of the Indiana democracy, which de- 
termined to press the claims of one of her own most 
distinguished statesmen, Joseph E. McDonald, for- 
merly a member of the United States senate. While 
not so sagacious a politician and party leader as 
Hendricks nor such a brilliant, dashing, picturesque 
figure on the firing line as Voorhees, he was, in many 
respects, the intellectual superior of both. He had 
something of the dignity, solidity and majesty w^ith 
which popular imagination clothes the Roman sen- 
ator of antiquity. 



70 Life of John W. Kern 

Thus when Senator McDonald appeared upon the 
platform of the English Opera House that June 
morning in 1884 to call the convention to order he 
was hailed as the prospective standard bearer of the 
democracy in the national campaign. He presented 
to the convention, as its chairman, Senator Daniel W. 
Voorhees, whose hold upon the affections of the rank 
and file had constantly strengthened during his 
twenty-six years of public life, and whose genius 
and eloquence in the presentation of political issues 
has never been equaled in the state. After stirring 
the delegates to a high pitch of enthusiasm in his 
"keynote" speech, he introduced the chairman of 
the committee on Resolutions, William H. Eng- 
lish, who only four years before had been the 
party's nominee for the vice-presidency on the ticket 
with Hancock. 

The only contests in the convention were over the 
nominations for governor and reporter of the su- 
preme court, and the gubernatorial contest was be- 
tween two of the greatest figures that ever led the 
democracy of the Hoosier state, Isaac P. Gray, after- 
ward Indiana's choice for the presidency, who died 
while ambassador to Mexico, and David Turpie, 
who had already served in the United States sen- 
ate and was to return to that body a little later. 
While Turpie was much the abler man, a statesman 
of high order, he was not the equal of the astute 



Reporter of the Supreme Court 71 

Gray as a politician, and the latter was easily nomi- 
nated on the first ballot. 

McDonald, Voorhees, English, Gray and Turpie 
— all prominent participants in one state convention, 
the only absent leader of the first magnitude was 
Hendricks, who was to be nominated for the vice- 
presidency with Cleveland in less than a month. It 
was in such a convention that John W. Kern made 
his initial bow to the state democracy. 

Seldom has any party put forth a stronger ticket 
than that on which Kern was nominated. Gray, one 
of the best campaigners in the state, was nominated 
for governor; Captain W. R. Myers, nominated for 
secretary of state, continued for a quarter of a cen- 
tury one of the most powerful figures on the stump; 
John J. Cooper, nominated for treasurer, was a busi- 
ness man of high character whose name is still con- 
jured with; Francis T. Hord, the nominee for attor- 
ney-general, was one of the strong lawyers of the 
state; and James H. Rice, popularly known to this 
day, though dead for many years, as "Ji"^" Rice, was 
one of the cleverest politicians and most delightful 
personalities that ever moved across the political 
stage. 

And this convention, notable in every way, was 
able to dispose of its business and adjourn in three 
hours and a half, having met at lo A. M. and ad- 
journed at 1 130 P. M. 



72 Life of John W. Kern 



The campaign of 1884, in which Kern first ap- 
peared on the platform as a party leader, and the two 
following contests during which he was in office, 
were among the most exciting and picturesque in the 
history of state politics. It was the day of immense 
meetings, of torchlight processions when party pa- 
pers quarreled over the number of torches carried in 
parades, and over the number of men who rode on 
horseback — a day of joint debates, and bitter assaults. 
And it was the day of real giants. Hendricks in '84 
was to make his last appearance. Voorhees was 
sweeping over the state leaving behind a frenzy of 
enthusiasm, McDonald was speaking the more sober 
language of statesmanship to great assemblies, Tur- 
pie was discoursing textbooks on political science 
from which less erudite politicians were to learn 
their lessons. Gray was meeting Calkins in joint de- 
bates from which the amateur debaters of the country 
stores, the blacksmith shops and the street corners 
were to get their cue; John E. Lamb, just out of his 
twenties and known from river to lake as "the blue- 
eyed boy of destiny," was setting the woods on fire 
by driving his opponents in congressional races from 
the stump; Benjamin F. Shively, still in his twenties, 
was duplicating the trick in the South Bend district; 
and a young and exceedingly popular politician was 



Reporter of the Supreme Court 73 

just beginning to attract attention as a party man- 
ager in Marion county — Tom Taggart. 

From the beginning of the campaign Kern was one 
of the most active and effective figures on the stump, 
as is disclosed by a consultation of the files of The 
Indianapolis Sentinel. This indicates that he con- 
fined his speeches largely to the tariff question and 
spoke usually for two hours. In the campaign of '84 
we find him speaking to "a large and enthusiastic 
audience for two hours" at Bourbon; addressing 
"5,000 people on Michigan street," in Michigan 
City, where his speech was "invariably considered 
to have been the ablest delivered in the present cam- 
paign." Here, too, he was given "a grand ovation" 
and reviewed "the largest procession of the campaign 
with over 1,000 torches in line." At Dekalb he spoke 
to "a bigger meeting than Voorhees had in the 
county" and was given "one of the grand ovations of 
the season." The correspondent at Dekalb in his 
enthusiasm wrote: "Too much praise can not be 
given Mr. Kern for the eloquent, logical and con- 
vincing manner in which he handles the subjects at 
issue. He is making one of our best political orators, 
and in time will have more than a state reputation." 
The Sentinel's correspondent at Hagerstown assures 
us that "his speech was the most effective delivered 
here during the campaign," that he "discussed the 
tariff in a masterly manner," and that "his social 



74 Life of John W. Kern 

manner won for him a host of friends irrespective of 
party." 

It is evident that he made a fine impression in the 
campaign of 1884 from the nature of the assignments 
that were given him in the next campaign. He had 
evidently become a favorite on the stump. The col- 
umns of The Indianapolis Sentinel for this campaign 
indicate that after the great leaders of the time, Voor- 
hees, Gray, Turpie and McDonald, he was a favorite 
with partisan audiences. Thus in the report of his 
speech at Logansport this year he is referred to as 
"John the Eloquent;" the report from his Greenfield 
meeting referred to him as "one of Indiana's finest 
orators" and to the "easy and graceful way he showed 
up General Harrison;" the Rushville correspondent 
wrote that "the name of John W. Kern was sufficient 
to insure a full house" and "the impression left be- 
hind is highly complimentary to Mr. Kern." Some- 
thing of the militant nature of his partisanship dur- 
ing this period may be gathered from an incident 
connected with his meeting at Connersville. Finding 
that he was dated to speak the same night that 
Colonel Charles L. Holstein was to discuss the issues 
from the Republican point of view, he immediately 
challenged the colonel to meet him on the same plat- 
form in a joint discussion — an invitation that was not 
considered attractive. Kern then spoke at his own 
meeting and the report has it that "his fiery review 



Reporter of the Supreme Court 75 

of the Republican protective tariff robbery aroused 
great enthusiasm." But the most laudatory account 
of any of his meetings in this campaign was sent out, 
naturally enough, from Kokomo, in which he was 
described as "the most eloquent orator of his years in 
Indiana." It then went on to describe his speech — 
"The young man eloquent was in splendid form and 
his speech was admitted on all sides to have been the 
ablest effort on either side during the present cam- 
paign. . . . For one and a half hours he poured 
hot shot into the rotten hull of the enemies' craft. 
Old Democrats declare they have never heard a more 
electrical speech in their lives. Put the Howard 
county democracy down solid for Kern for governor 
bye and bye." 

If any further evidence were necessary to establish 
the fact that during the time he was reporter of the 
supreme court he was looked upon in many quarters 
as the future leader of the party, two cards that ap- 
peared in The Indianapolis Sentinel at the time 
would surely suffice. These cards are important to 
our purpose in establishing Kern's status between 
1885 and 1889. An "Indianapolis attorney" wrote: 

"If the Democrats intend to push young men to 
the front for the governorship and party leadership, 
what is the matter with John W. Kern, reporter of 
the supreme court? He is the man whom the late 
Vice-President Hendricks once referred to as 'one 



76 Life of John W. Kern 

of the rising Democratic leaders of Indiana.' At the 
last election he received a larger popular vote than 
any man on the state ticket except Judge Mitchell, 
w^ho had the additional support of the Greenbackers, 
and he even got a larger majority than the latter. 
Then there is no man in the state w^ho comes nearer 
being the political idol of the young democracy, and 
I knov^ of hundreds of young Republicans who 
would support him for any position to which he 
might aspire. No one can say that John Kern can't 
make a speech; there is not a public talker in the 
state who can arouse the 'boys' in a speech more com- 
pletely than he; and then he has brains enough to fill 
any position; is shrewd enough for a manager, and 
no one has more personal friends." 

The following day another card appeared from 
"An Old-Style Democrat." 

"Your talk from an Indianapolis attorney made 
me a little zealous. While it is true that 'John W. 
Kern is the idol of the young democracy of the state,' 
he is no less a favorite of us old Democrats. He is 
young, able and progressive, just such a man as we 
need. John W. Kern is a born leader. To be sure he 
is young, but he has got a mighty old head on him, 
and it will be seen that he don't need much pushing 
to get to the front." 

I am indebted to Dr. E. E. Quivey of Fort Wayne 
for some interesting recollections of the Kern of the 
eighties. In the campaign of 1884 he was a member 



Reporter of the Supreme Court 7T 

of a Democratic quartette which was sent over the 
state with various orators, and for three weeks the 
quartette accompanied Kern. Any one knowing him 
in the latter years of his life will find in these remin- 
iscences a striking likeness to the man they knew. 
His charm of manner, courtesy, thoughtfulness, sim- 
plicity and democracy of bearing are prominently 
featured in Doctor Quivey's recollections: 

"At this time Mr. Kern was a comparatively 
young man and not widely known in Indiana outside 
the confines of his own district. He was very slender 
and in the long frock coat of the period seemed much 
taller than when I saw him years afterward. He had 
an abundance of hair which was almost black and 
which he wore rather long, but always neatly 
trimmed about the edges. His face was rather pale 
and already lines were graven on his forehead and 
about the eyes, which, together with heavy eye- 
brows, gave an expression of austerity which wholly 
belied his nature. Although an indefatigable worker 
he was not a rugged man, and was therefore very 
careful of his physical welfare, using every precau- 
tion to forestall some seemingly ever-impending ill- 
ness. While I am sure that he had many hours of 
physical discomfort, he never even intimated that he 
was not in the best of health. 

"Wherever he appeared he made a profound im- 
pression by his fluent speech and the compelling 
force of his logic. He seldom embellished his 
thoughts with figurative language, and his speeches 



78 Life of John W. Kern 

were entirely devoid of verbosity; his power seemed 
to lie in the earnest, lucid simplicity of his appeal. 
He never sought to please the fancy of his auditors 
by lofty flights of oratory, nor did he indulge in any 
of the tricks that crafty orators employ for applause. 
Indeed applause seemed more disconcerting than 
pleasing to him. 

"He W3.S by far the most approachable public man 
we had encountered. The distant, awe-inspiring 
characteristics of some of the other speakers were 
wholly foreign to his nature. 

"Mr. Kern's humanity was made evident on sev- 
eral occasions, but the following incident will suffice 
to show that he possessed this ennobling quality to a 
very marked degree. It was at Monticello, if my 
memory serves me rightly, that one of the boys had 
an acute attack of indigestion and he was violently 
sick for a few hours. Mr. Kern did not know it until 
it was time to leave for the meeting; and when told 
that Carlston was ill, disappointment and alarm were 
expressed on his face as he said, 'Where is he? Take 
me to him.' He was shown to Carlston's room, which 
was indeed a cheerless one, and after a quick survey 
of the surroundings he said, 'This won't do; we can 
not leave him here.' And he insisted that he be trans- 
ferred to a warm and cheerful room, that a physician 
be summoned at once, and that some one be secured 
to stay with him during our absence. Nor would he 
go to the meeting, despite the impatient entreaties of 
the committee to 'hurry up,' until every detail for 
Carlston's comfort had been completed. 

"An amusing incident happened on the day fol- 



Reportee of the Supreme Court 79 

lowing which revealed a phase of Mr. Kern's char- 
acter not often brought to the surface. Under no 
consideration would he deliberately ofifer offense to 
any one, and he was inclined to let personal incivili- 
ties go unrebuked and apparently unnoticed. Yet 
when goaded to retaliation he was equal to any emer- 
gency. It seems that some of the Republican papers 
were claiming that William H. Calkins had chal- 
lenged Senator Voorhees to meet him in a series of 
joint debates and that Voorhees would not respond 
to the challenge. During Kern's speech, I think at 
Crown Point, a man in the audience kept interrupt- 
ing him with inquiries as to why Senator Voorhees 
refused to meet Calkins in joint debate. At first no 
attention was paid to the interruptions, but the man 
was so persistent that finally Mr. Kern stopped, 
pointed his finger at the disturber and said, 'I am 
surprised than ony one in Indiana has the hardihood 
to ask such a question. Sir, it is evident that you do 
not know Senator Voorhees and Mr. Calkins. Why, 
my friend, you could no more drag William H. Cal- 
kins into a discussion with Senator Voorhees than 
you could lasso a wild goose a mile high.' 

"One day after Mr. Kern had spoken at an after- 
noon meeting we drove to another town some twelve 
or fifteen miles distant, where he was scheduled to 
speak at night. Upon our arrival he went directly 
to the hotel to arrange for accommodations for the 
night. The office, which was dingy and cheerless, 
offered anything but encouraging prospects for the 
night. It was a typical country town hotel of the 
period with three or four of the proverbial loafing 



80 Life of John W. Kern 

cronies of the landlord in evidence. When Mr. 
Kern registered the landlord looked at the name over 
his spectacles, and then at Mr. Kern, and no doubt 
hoping to create a laugh at Kern's expense, said, 'So 
you're the feller w^hat's goin' to make a Democratic 
speech here to-night. Well, you fellers may be Dem- 
ocrats, but I tell ye right now yer stoppin' at a Re- 
publican hotel.' Kern in a droll manner that was 
ridiculously funny replied, 'I suspected as much; the 
Republican hostelries this fall are very gloomy 
places.' 

"It became our custom before going to bed to 
gather in Kern's room and spend an hour or two in 
smoking, reviewing the events of the day, and sing- 
ing, and those preslumber occasions I shall ever hold 
as cherished memories. They were indeed pleasant 
hours, and I am sure Mr. Kern enjoyed them as 
much as did w^e boys, for the gatherings were invari- 
ably held at his suggestion. He was fond of senti- 
mental ballads and simple melodies, and I recall two 
songs which he often asked us to sing, and to which 
he always listened with profound attention. Of one 
of these songs I can recall but one verse and the 
chorus : 

"I am longing so sadly, I'm longing 

For the days that have vanished and fled, 
For the flowers that around us were blooming 

That, alas, are all withered and dead. 
Tints that of all the rarest 

Fade as upon them we gaze 
And the hours that are brightest and fairest 

Soon are hid with the lost yesterdays. 



Reporter of the Supreme Court 81 

Flitting, flitting away, 

All that we cherished most dear. 
There is nothing on earth that will stay; 

Roses must die with the year." 

"Another song of which he was especially fond 
was 'The Little Old Church on the Hill.' 

"One night in Kern's room when we finished that 
song he said: 'Boys, that song tells a story and paints 
a picture of simple rural life that all men should 
reverence. It is the story of the people who are the 
bulwark of the nation's life.' " 

It is on just such occasions as are herein described 
that the real character of a man asserts itself. No one 
who ever knew Mr. Kern at any period of his life 
will fail to recognize the fidelity of the portrait 
painted from memory by a man who was scarcely 
more than a boy when he knew the original. 

Ill 

The four years that Mr. Kern was reporter of the 
supreme court, 1885- 1889, ^^^^ t)een described by 
him in an address before the Indiana Bar Associa- 
tion as "in many respects the most interesting of my 
life." The five judges of the supreme court with 
whom he was intimately associated during these 
years among the greatest lawyers and most distin- 
guished men who ever sat upon the supreme bench 
of Indiana at one time. 



82 Life or John W. Kern 

Not least among the things that went to make this 
"the most interesting period of his career" was his 
intimate association with the members of the bench. 
He did his work well, as the seventeen volumes of 
the Indiana Reports bearing his name testify. But in 
later years it was the amusing incidents of the period 
that he largely drew upon in conversation. He loved 
his practical joke then as throughout his life, and he 
frequently related the following at the expense of 
Judge Niblack, who was not much given to frivolity. 
The judge had decided a case from Pike county in 
which some people had been indicted for maltreat- 
ing a goose under the statute regarding cruelty to 
animals. The point at issue was as to whether a 
goose was an animal within the meaning of the stat- 
ute and Niblack decided that it was. One of the 
judge's pet hobbies was a short syllabi and he cau- 
tioned Kern and his deputies against long ones with 
such frequency that it made a rather disagreeable 
impression on the reporter. In the Pike county case, 
bearing Niblack's admonition in mind, Kern decided 
to write the syllabus himself. He made the headline, 
"Criminal Law," the subhead, "Cruelty to Animals," 
and the text, "A goose is an animal." He said noth- 
ing about it to Niblack, who read it for the first time 
in the proof, and then went to Kern. "I want to talk 
to you a little about this syllabus in the Pike county 
case," he said. 



Reporter of the Supreme Court 83 

"You have said to me repeatedly that you wanted 
these syllabi cut as short as I could," Kern replied 
with simulated heat, "I had an opportunity here to 
show you what I could do with this opinion. You 
have decided that this goose was an animal, and I 
have so put it in the proof." 

The old judge, taking it all seriously, and assum- 
ing a conciliatory tone, replied: 

"That is all right, but in this syllabus you stated it 
too abruptly, and I wish you would lengthen it out 
a little." 

This does not imply that Kern merely sought the 
amusing side of his work. He took pride in doing his 
work thoroughly and well. It was in some respects a 
post graduate course in the law. And no office in 
Indiana aside from that of governor has higher tra- 
ditions or has been filled by so many men of distinc- 
tion in political life. Notable among these were Ben- 
jamin Harrison, afterward president; Michael C. 
Kerr, afterward speaker of the National House of 
Representatives; Albert G. Porter, afterward gov- 
ernor and ambassador to Italy, and Mr. Kern, after- 
wards leader of the United States Senate, was to be 
succeeded by John L. Griffiths, one of the most 
brilliant orators of his time, who died while Consul- 
General to London. During the four years of his in- 
cumbency, Kern measured up to the high traditions 
of the office. 



84 Life of John W. Kern 



IV 



Meanwhile he was extending his acquaintance 
among the politicians of the state, who flocked to 
Indianapolis during this period of party rejuvenation 
and renewed hope. When not in his office he was 
usually to be found in the hotels or wherever the poli- 
ticians congregated. 

It was a period when the political worker was ex- 
pected to be given more or less to conviviality, or as 
it was expressed to "sociability." And never were 
social animals more in evidence than during this 
period. The young reporter of the supreme court, 
with his glow of humor, his ready wit, his good fel- 
lowship, soon became a prime favorite in the circle 
of conviviality, and the continual stream of poli- 
ticians into the capital from over the state sought his 
companionship. The result was disastrous to his 
purse and destructive of his health, if not dangerous 
to his future. The result was that lucrative though 
his office was he spent his money as rapidly as he 
made it, and when he was renominated by his party 
in the campaign of 1888 he entered the contest as 
poor in purse though infinitely richer in friends and 
reputation as politician and speaker as when he 
sought his first nomination with the view to accumu- 
lating money. In this campaign the Democrats were 
greatly handicapped by the fact that the Republicans 



Reporter of the Supreme Court 85 

had nominated Benjamin Harrison for the presi- 
dency and with crowds of enthusiastic partisans 
flocking to Indianapolis from all parts of the coun- 
try, the element of state pride entered into the con- 
test. Not satisfied with this advantage the Republi- 
can managers resorted to the notorious "blocks of 
five" plan of corruption, which was exposed, how- 
ever, in the midst of the campaign. The result was 
the defeat of the entire Democratic ticket by an aston- 
ishingly small margin. Thus Kern left office as poor 
as when he entered. Indeed he almost immediately 
afterward disposed of his copyright on his seventeen 
volumes of reports to the Bowen-Merrill Company 
for a ridiculously small consideration. 



Meanwhile he had definitely fixed his residence 
in Indianapolis, where he had no established prac- 
tice and nothing to draw upon for immediate returns 
but his personal popularity and reputation as an or- 
ator and lawyer of ability. Before leaving Kokomo 
Mrs. Kern had died and in December, 1885, he had 
been married to Araminta A. Cooper, daughter of 
Dr. William Cooper of Kokomo at the home of her 
sister in Logansport, many of his political friends, 
including Governor Isaac P. Gray, "Jim" Rice and 
District-Attorney John E. Lamb, going up from In- 
dianapolis. Though but nineteen years old at the 



86 Life of John W. Kern 

time of her marriage she became a real helpmate to 
her husband, mothering his baby daughter Julia, and 
meeting all her responsibilities then and ever after- 
ward in a manner that increased his admiration for 
her along with his affection. Devoted to her home 
and family, of lively disposition, intensely loyal to 
her own, she was to contribute not only to his happi- 
ness during the remainder of his life, but not a little 
to his success. It was soon after his marriage that 
Kern finally put behind him the happy-go-lucky ir- 
responsibility and convivial tendencies of his youth 
and entered upon a new life which was to bring him 
rich rewards. 

On retiring from office, Kern formed a partner- 
ship with Leon O. Bailey, a prominent lawyer who, 
like himself, had a liking for politics and became 
definitely identified with the bar of Indianapolis, 
then, as now, notable for its strong men. While the 
firm engaged in general practice, it gave special at- 
tention to the civil side, and Kern, who had distin- 
guished himself in his Kokomo days as a criminal 
lawyer only occasionally thereafter appeared in 
criminal cases. It is not the purpose here to dwell 
at length on his legal career in Indianapolis. Even 
the most noted cases in which he participated regu- 
larly during the remainder of his life or until his 
election to the senate have no more than a transitory 
interest. Quite early he added to his reputation at 



Reporter of the Supreme Court 87 

the bar as special counsel for the state of Indiana in 
the famous railroad tax cases, as special counsel for 
the government in the equally famous cases growing 
out of the failure of the Indianapolis National Bank, 
in the **Swamp Land cases," which involved great 
sums of money, and these sufficed to place him to- 
ward the head of his profession. With his character 
as a lawyer we are interested in that it serves to paint 
the portrait of the man, and with this we shall deal 
in the chapter— "Kern: A Composite Portrait," with 
an analysis of Kern the lawyer, by Mr. Bailey, who 
was associated with him for ten years. 



I 



CHAPTER V 

Leader in the Indiana Senate— '93 and '95 
I 

T is not often in the recent political history of 
Indiana that a man with a state reputation as a 
leader established has aspired to a seat in the state 
senate, and this made Mr. Kern's candidacy in 1892 
notable. His election assured the Democratic party 
a leadership in that body of more than ordinary sa- 
gacity and militancy. The election of 1892 had re- 
sulted in a clean sweep in Indiana for the Derhoc- 
racy, which had not only delivered the electoral vote 
to Cleveland, but had elected Claude Matthews gov- 
ernor and a large majority in both branches of the 
legislature. The Kern of this period was quite a dif- 
ferent man from the Kern who had retired from the 
office of reporter of the supreme court four years 
before. He had entered upon the more serious phase 
of his career, having put behind him definitely the 
conviviality of other days. Easily the best known 
and most eloquent member of the senate, he had the 
further advantage of being recognized as one of the 
ablest lawyers who ever sat in the state senate cham- 
ber. By sheer force of superior ability and person- 
ality he immediately took rank as the leader of his 
party whatever may have been the intentions of some 
in position to determine committee assignments. 



Leader ix the Indiana Senate 89 

Mortimer Nye, the lieutenant governor, who made 
the assignments, was generous to Kern in the number 
of the committees to which he was appointed, includ- 
ing rules, finance, roads, public buildings, the city 
of Indianapolis, and the chairmanship of the insur- 
ance committee, but his failure to place him on the 
judiciary committee, in view of his position in his 
profession, was considered by many as remarkable. 
Indeed Mr. Nye's committee assignments were quite 
generally criticized and The Indianapolis Sentinel, 
the state organ of the party, commented pointedly 
upon Kern's absence from the judiciary committee. 
The lieutenant governor was to prove rather obstrep- 
erous and out of harmony with party policy on sev- 
eral notable occasions, and to be something of a thorn 
in the side of Governor Matthews. 

Mr. Kern at this time was described by the legis- 
lative correspondents as "among the best-dressed 
men in the senate." He appeared habitually in a 
Prince Albert coat, and when on the streets in a black 
polished silk hat. His manner was cordial and in- 
gratiating then, as always, and notwithstanding his 
marked partisanship at this period, the charm of his 
personality and his chivalric attitude toward oppo- 
nents made him none the less popular on the Repub- 
lican than on the Democratic side of the chamber. 
The legislative session of 1893 was distinguished by 
several notable new departures in the legislative pol- 



90 Life of John W. Kern 

icy of the state, especially in the line of labor legisla- 
tion, and here Mr. Kern was a potent factor. He 
spoke frequently and with marked effect, often with 
force and eloquence, but more often in his brief re- 
marks speaking in the vein of humor or ridicule. 

His first prominent participation in the work of 
the senate must have been in the discharge of a con- 
genial duty. He had charge of the interests of United 
States Senator David Turpie, who was up for re- 
election. In the state convention of 1892 he had un- 
dertaken, in conjunction with James M. Barrett of 
Fort Wayne and a few others, to make Turpie's re- 
election a certainty by making an unsuccessful fight 
before the committee on resolutions for a party dec- 
laration in his favor. While David Turpie was one 
of the most scholarly and worthy champions of 
Democratic principles the state has produced, he 
was not given to the graces of typical politicians and, 
lacking the more spectacular qualities of men like 
Voorhees, he was never properly appreciated by the 
rank and file. He might be properly styled a leader 
of the leaders. After the election an effort had been 
made in some quarters to inject John G. Shanklin, 
the brilliant editor of The Evansville Courier, into 
the contest, but that gentleman refused his consent 
and favored Turpie. Notwithstanding his position, 
one vote was cast in caucus for him over the protest 
of Kern, who was authorized by Shanklin to make it. 



Leader in the Indiana Senate 91 

The speech in which Kern presented Turpie's name, 
while eloquent and in better taste than such addresses 
usually are, is chiefly interesting here for the light 
it throws on the speaker's personal attitude toward 
party leadership. The following excerpt might have 
been taken from a tribute to Kern himself: 

"During these forty years David Turpie has been 
a Democrat, and whether leading a forlorn hope un- 
der dark and lowering skies with defeat inevitable, 
or whether at the head of a victorious column mak- 
ing a final charge to victory already assured, he has 
been equally brave and earnest, never wavering for 
a single moment in his devotion to the cause so dear 
to his heart. While others faltered and tired, Turpie 
was renewing his vigor and preparing for a renewal 
of the fray. While others were dealing with ques- 
tions of policy and debating the feasibility of new 
departures, Turpie laid fresh hold upon the teach- 
ings of Jefiferson, and pressed forward in the cause 
of honest money, home rule, personal liberty and 
constitutional method." 

It was during this session that he disclosed the 
courageous attitude toward public questions which 
distinguished him ever afterward, and in the light 
of that record it is difficult to understand the partial 
success of his political opponents in fixing upon him 
the reputation of being a trimmer. Among the many 
measures no longer of interest and pertaining par- 



92 Life of John W. Kern 

ticularly to Indianapolis affairs we are concerned 
only with one relating to the amendment of the city 
charter providing in the case of street paving that 
the crossings should be paid for by the property 
owners directly affected. For many years it had been 
the policy to pay for these crossings through gen- 
eral taxation. In the older sections of the city, where 
property was more valuable and property owners 
more prosperous, the crossings had been paved, and 
the poorer classes in less favored sections had been 
taxed to pay for them. It was the conviction of Mr. 
Kern that it would be an injustice to change that 
policy at a time when the poorer sections were pre- 
paring for improvements. His view was at war with 
that of powerful elements. The city administration, 
a Democratic administration presided over by a 
mayor who had been twice placed in nomination by 
Kern himself, favored the amendment to the charter. 
The Commercial Club, composed at that time of 400 
of the leading business men of the city, was aggres- 
sively behind it, and the press of the city was in- 
sistent upon it. A trimmer lacking in courage would 
scarcely have undertaken to stem the tide. This 
Kern did in his first important speech of the session, 
and while he lost his fight he made an impression 
that confirmed the general opinion of his ability. In 
describing this, his first argumentative speech in the 
state senate, The Indianapolis Sentinel said: 



Leader in the Indiana Senate 93 

"When Mr. Kern rose all the senators wheeled 
their chairs around to listen better. This was to be 
Mr. Kern's first argument on an important measure, 
and those who had never heard him in joint discus- 
sion wanted to see how he would acquit himself. His 
reputation as an orator extends all over the state, and 
though he espoused a losing cause yesterday he did 
not disappoint his friends." 

II 

It was in connection with labor legislation that 
Kern at this time fashioned his reputation as a public 
man — a reputation that was to make him ardent 
friends and powerful foes. Throughout his life his 
instincts had always impelled him to take up the 
cudgels for the lowly and oppressed. Even before 
entering the state senate he had written many bills 
for the legislative committee of the state federation 
of labor and the working classes naturally looked to 
him for leadership. The first battle along these lines 
in which he participated was in connection with 
legislation relating to the legal status of the labor 
union. In the first part of the session a bill had been 
introduced to legalize the unions and this had been 
instantly met by the introduction of a bill "for the 
protection of non-union laborers." The Democratic 
caucus quickly disposed of the latter by rejecting it, 
and Francis T. Hord, its sponsor, threatened for a 
time to resign his seat. The former bill was bitterly 



94 Life of John W. Kern 

contested and Kern had charge of the measure when 
it reached the senate. The "business interests," as 
they called themselves, were greatly outraged at 
what they pretended to look upon as a direct inter- 
ference with their rights. The purport of it was to 
make it a misdemeanor punishable by fine or im- 
prisonment for any employer of labor to discharge 
or threaten to discharge an employee because of his 
connection with labor organizations, or to exact a 
pledge from them that they would not affiliate with 
the unions. Only a little while before Pinkerton de- 
tectives had shot down the laborers of the Carnegie 
plant to the applause of that element in the country 
which pretended to conservatism and respectability. 
That Kern's views on the labor question were early 
formed, deeply felt and consistently held will be 
seen in the rather fiery speech he made in advocacy 
of the Deery bill: 

"It is a crying shame that in this year, 1893, and 
in Indiana, there should be a demand for legislation 
of this kind. It is outrageous that the representative 
of a great corporation, created by public favor, 
clothed with the extraordinary power of eminent do- 
main, grown fat and rich by favorable legislation, 
should have the hardihood to strike at the liberty of 
its workingmen by demanding of them that they give 
up membership in their unions, to which they are as 
devotedly attached as they are to church or party, 
under penalty of dismissal from employment. In 



Leader in the Indiana Senate 95 

other words, the alternative presented is "renounce 
your allegiance to your union or go forth without 
employment to face possible penury and want. 'I 
hold in my hand the constitution of one of these or- 
ganizations in which the purpose of its existence is 
set forth. It is a high and noble purpose — to rescue 
our trade from the low level to which it has fallen, 
and by mutual effort to place it on a foundation suf- 
ficiently strong to resist further encroachments; to 
encourage a higher standard of skill, to cultivate 
feelings of friendship, to assist each other to secure 
employment, to relieve our distress and to bury our 
dead.' 

"This is the creed of the men whose organization 
is imperiled by the arrogant demands of corporate 
power and wealth and who are compelled to come to 
this body to ask protection. Mr. President, the para- 
mount object of law is to protect the weak against 
the strong. Here is a case in which the protection of 
the laws is most properly invoked. It is an undis- 
puted fact that in this city, where more than 10,000 
labor union men are engaged in daily toil — earning 
a livelihood and piling up wealth for their employers 
— all loyal and law-abiding citizens, a great corpora- 
tion, through its authorized agents, drives out its em- 
ployees, faithful and honest, for the avowed reason 
that with true American spirit they declined to sur- 
render their sovereignty and at the bidding of the 
master give up cherished principles and attachments. 

"This anti-Pinkerton law was conceded to be and 
is a most beneficial measure, yet according to the ar- 
guments here it would fall under the ban of class 



96 Life of John W. Kern 

legislation. So of the anti-pluck-me-store law and 
every other enactment in the interest of labor. Or- 
ganized labor is the outgrowth of organized capital. 
Labor was organized in self-defense. For years and 
years and years organized capital was fostered and 
fed by favorable legislation, until it grew defiant and 
insolent and refused to treat with decent respect to 
the rights of the men whose toil gave them wealth. 
As a result labor organized that it might live — that 
it might have a share of its production. Its organiza- 
tion brought respect and dignity with it. It Amer- 
icanized the laborer who had long been denied many 
of the rights of citizenship. Better work, better 
morals, better men, happier homes and firesides have 
resulted. The bill is right. No man who loves lib- 
erty should oppose it." 

This extract will suffice to indicate the general 
character of Kern's defense of labor unions, and the 
speech was received with hearty commendation in 
labor circles throughout the country. 

To appreciate the courageous nature of Kern's act 
it should be borne in mind that organized labor was 
in its infancy; that the Knights of Labor only a little 
w^hile before had gone to pieces; that the national 
government but four years before had not hesitated 
to turn the guns of American troops upon striking 
unionists; and that men calling themselves "con- 
servative" were bitterly opposed to the new move- 
ment resulting in the organization of the American 



Leader in the Indiana Senate 97 

Federation of Labor four years before. But in addi- 
tion to all this, there were local conditions which 
made Kern's act one of rare courage. Scarcely a 
year before, when an effort had been made to organ- 
ize employees of the street railroad company, the 
employers resorted to extreme methods to prevent the 
organization. A serious strike resulted. For several 
weeks Indianapolis was without street car service. 
The press, the business element, the "conservatives," 
denounced the strikers and finally brought such pres- 
sure to bear that the mayor reluctantly consented to 
furnish police to accompany the cars. The strike was 
lost. The feeling was bitter. The most powerful in- 
fluences in Indianapolis were uncompromisingly op- 
posed to unions. 

Kern's speech was consequently notable, not only 
because it was a supremely courageous performance, 
but the first one ever uttered in the state senate of 
Indiana in advocacy of union labor. 

The bill was passed and became a law. Labor 
never forgot the service — and neither did the ene- 
mies of labor. 

Ill 

Even more epoch-making was the passage during 
this session of the first employers' liability law ever 
enacted in Indiana, and at a time when not more than 
three other states had passed such legislation. The 
bill was introduced in the house by S. M. Hench, 



98 Life of John W. Kern 

and after a rather spirited fight it passed that body 
and reached the senate, where it was diverted from 
the committee on labor to the judiciary committee. 
Here it seemed destined to remain. Every efifort on 
the part of its author to get a report was unavailing. 
Meanwhile a powerful railroad lobby had swooped 
down on the capitol and was exerting itself in the 
open to encompass its defeat. It was generally un- 
derstood that Lieutenant Governor Nye, who was a 
railroad lawyer with a professional view of the meas- 
ure, was strongly opposed to it, and when, after hav- 
ing reached the senate on February 17th, the month 
of March came, with the certainty that but four days 
remained for the passage of bills, it became apparent 
that extraordinary measures would have to be taken 
if it were to become a law. The railroad men's legis- 
lative committee had reached the end of its rope. On 
the morning of March i The Indianapolis Sentinel 
demanded action upon it in an editorial that placed 
the lieutenant governor in an embarrassing position 
by the significant suggestion that "the bill should not 
have been referred to the judiciary committee in the 
first place;" and that put the Democratic members 
on their mettle with the warning that in the event of 
the failure of its passage "the Democratic party will 
be held responsible." This editorial, the first of sev- 
eral that were to appear, was bitterly resented by Mr. 
Nye and the members of the judiciary committee. 



Leader in the Indiana Senate 99 

who were, nevertheless, thereby placed on the de- 
fensive. Other editorials charging responsibility 
upon the railroad lobby, put all the members of the 
senate on their guard. 

On March 3 the labor leaders appealed to Kern to 
make one final efifort. He was in hearty sympathy 
with the measure, but up to this time had not been 
asked to take the active management of it in the sen- 
ate. On the night of that very day he appeared be- 
fore the judiciary committee and debated the merits 
of the bill with the railroad lawyers, who were there 
to oppose it. The committee, unfriendly from the 
beginning, and rather embittered, no doubt, by the 
editorial reflections upon it, stubbornly refused to 
report the bill unless the railroad employees would 
agree to accept a certain amendment. On the morn- 
ing of the 4th, the last day it could be acted upon, 
Kern called a meeting of the legislative committee 
of the Federation of Labor, and it was agreed by 
them that the acceptance of the amendment would 
be preferable to no bill at all. This agreement on 
their part was then reduced to writing by Kern, and 
with the signatures of the legislative committee af- 
fixed he hastened to the judiciary committee and in- 
sisted upon a report. When the bill was reported 
with the recommendation that it pass as amended, he 
moved concurrence in the report, the suspension of 
the constitutional rules, and its passage. It was now 



100 Life of John W. Kern 

rather late in the day and the amendment required 
its repassage in the house — a fact that the enemies of 
the bill doubtless counted upon. But the moment it 
passed the senate Kern hastened to the house and 
saw Captain James B. Curtis, the speaker, who had 
all other business suspended to consider the bill as 
amended. It only required twenty minutes to get it 
through the house the second time, and Kern per- 
sonally took it to the governor for his signature. 

This was one of the greatest victories that labor 
ever won in the Indiana legislature. Since that time 
the world has moved far in the way of remedial legis- 
lation, and the employers' liability law of 1893 has 
long been antiquated, but at a time when only two or 
three states in the union had enacted such legislation 
it was a signal and significant triumph for the labor 
cause in Indiana. 

This, too, was a service that laboring men never 
forgot — and this, too, contributed to fix Kern's status 
in the minds of the enemies of labor as dangerous 
and demagogic. 

During this same session Kern took a leading part 
in the passage of a child labor law, a fact that was 
recalled more than a quarter of a century later when 
the president of the United States placed upon him 
the responsibility of piloting through the United 
States senate the first national child labor measure 
ever written in the statutes. 



Leader in the Indiana Senate 101 

Quite as indicative of his life-long attitude toward 
labor problems was his introduction of a bill to estab- 
lish a state board of conciliation for the settlement 
of controversies between employers and employees. 
This bill reached third reading, but failed of passage. 

The close of the session found Kern more of a state 
figure than he had ever been before. He had been 
easily the dominating figure, the interesting person- 
ality. His speeches had been characterized by more 
substance, more sparkle, more originality than are 
customarily heard in the Indiana legislature. His 
humor and ridicule had delighted the objects of 
them. His social qualities had endeared him to all 
his colleagues. And among members of the opposi- 
tion it was understood that while he was intense in 
his political convictions there was nothing bigoted 
or bitter in his estimate of men who opposed them. 
This was disclosed in many graceful little incidents, 
as when he moved that the senate adjourn in respect 
to the memory of James G. Blaine. 

IV 

The state senate of the session of 1895, due to the 
political upheaval of 1894, was Republican, and 
Kern found himself in the role of leader of the mi- 
nority — the only time in his career where he ap- 
peared as such. It is significant of his personal popu- 
larity and standing among Republicans that the ma- 



102 Life of John W. Kern 

jority in the making of committee assignments placed 
him upon the judiciary committee from which he 
had been excluded by a Democratic lieutenant gov- 
ernor, and he was continued on the rules committee 
and of course with the committee dealing with legis- 
lation relating to Indianapolis. Neither the journal 
of the senate nor the newspapers of the time indicate 
that he was particularly persistent in his opposition 
until toward the close of the session. The proceed- 
ings of the majority were flagrantly partisan and in 
many other ways open to censure. The majority was 
lead by Albert W. Wishard, an Indianapolis lawyer 
and politician of high professional standing, one of 
the most brilliant men who ever served in the In- 
diana legislature, for whom Kern entertained a warm 
personal regard. The partisan bitterness, however, 
which developed toward the close of the session did 
not prevent the latter from warmly defending the 
Republican leader against the charge of feigning ill- 
ness to escape a vote. This kind of chivalry charac- 
terized him throughout his life, but signally failed 
to protect him in later years from the most vicious 
personal attacks on the part of a large portion of the 
Republican press of the state. 

This bitterness of partisan feeling was engendered 
by the Republican plan for the gerrymandering of 
the state. The bill agreed upon by the Republican 
caucus represented partisanship gone mad. The 



Leader in the Indiana Senate 103 

most grotesque combinations of counties were made 
for congressional and legislative purposes. The most 
vehement protests of the Democrats and of citizens 
of sufficiently independent character to resent injus- 
tice were of no avail. The Republicans, booted and 
spurred, rode rough shod over all opposition. A 
United States senator was to be elected the next year 
and nothing in the way of the juggling of legislative 
districts that would make more difficult the re-elec- 
tion of Daniel W. Voorhees was left undone. Appre- 
ciating the impossibility of preventing the consum- 
mation of the plan, Kern withheld his fire until the 
bill was put upon its passage, and then in an excoriat- 
ing speech, all the more severe because every count 
in the indictment he drew was notoriously true, he 
voiced his protest in a general denunciation of the 
legislative record made by the party in power during 
the session. This speech is historically interesting, 
especially the following: 

"In 1887 you denounced the rules of the senate 
adopted by the Democratic majority under the lead- 
ership of Green Smith as 'outrageous, brutal and 
revolutionary,' and yet on gaining power you re- 
enact those rules without the dotting of an i or the 
crossing of a t. 

"In former years you have denounced the Demo- 
cratic legislatures on account of the number of their 
employees; and yet here in the senate chamber sen- 
ators can scarcely get in and out of the chamber with- 



104 Life or John W. Kern 

out stumbling over the crowds of idle and useless 
employees who swarm about performing no service. 

"You have denounced the Democratic 'profligacy' 
in the little items of expenditures about the general 
assembly, and yet I call your attention to the fact that 
of the twenty-eight sets of Burns' statutes purchased 
by the senate for the state at the commencement of 
the session every set except three have been stolen 
and carried away. 

"You lay claim to a record of economy and yet, 
leaving your officers with their princely salaries, you 
seek to make the record good by taking food and 
clothing and the comforts of life from those of God's 
unfortunate children who are confined in the asylum 
of the insane, and those who are being educated and 
cared for in the institutions for the deaf and dumb 
and blind. 

"You have claimed to favor the abolishment of the 
spoils system from the politics of the state and yet 
under your legislation of this session politics has been 
carried into the public schools for the first time in 
the history of the state." 

Interruption — "How about the Nicholson law?" 

Kern — "I am obliged for the interruption. The 
Democratic party has never posed as the great and 
only party of morality and temperance. The Repub- 
lican party has. Do you remember your recent cam- 
paign waged under the banner— the Home Against 
the Saloon? If the Democratic party had made such 
pretenses as these I am sure its members would not, 
when the Nicholson bill was called, as it was yester- 
day, have been found running in all directions like 



Leader in the Indiana Senate 105 

fox chases to dodge a vote. They would have had the 
courage of their convictions. The Democratic party 
in the last campaign had no deal with the liquor ele- 
ment of Evansville or elsewhere. It had no entan- 
gling alliances that drove its members out of the 
chamber when the roll is called in order that they 
might dodge the consequences of a vote. Republican 
senators here who have been loud in their pretenses 
of temperance and morality in the years gone by turn 
pale and tremble and run like hounds at the mere 
mention of the Nicholson bill. At last they have 
been smoked from under the cover of hypocrisy and 
are appalled at the sight of the light of day, which 
is finally turned upon them. 

"The end of these false pretenses is come at last. 
. . . And that is why I say that at the close of this 
session, with this record, it is fitting that there should 
come this gerrymander which in its iniquity is suf- 
ficient to cause the old original Gerry to turn in his 
grave at the thought of his utter incapacity in that 
line when compared with the modern Republican 
reformers of Indiana." 



The reference to the Nicholson law was thor- 
oughly understood by all his hearers. In the cam- 
paign of 1894 fhe Republicans had laid claim to be- 
ing the party of temperance and had held forth the 
promise to the temperance people that a Republican 
assembly would mean temperance legislation. This 
pretense was accepted at face value by the temper- 



106 Life of John W. Kern 

ance workers. At the same time it was generally un- 
derstood that one of the Republican leaders had en- 
tered into a secret understanding with the "wets" at 
Evansville that any temperance measure presented 
would be either pigeonholed or passed in a form that 
would make it utterly worthless for its purpose. Soon 
after the legislature met Representative Nicholson 
had introduced his bill and the game of hide and go 
seek was on. Seldom if ever have more exciting 
scenes been witnessed about the state house during a 
legislative session than those of this period. On days 
when it was known that any phase of the bill would 
be discussed in either branch of the assembly the 
galleries were packed to overflowing and great 
throngs jostled about in the corridors. The temper- 
ance forces were organized and awake. In the pul- 
pits of the capital on Sundays the ministers de- 
manded the passage of the bill. This general interest 
was embarrassing to the Republican politicians, who 
had not counted upon being called on to do their 
tricks of legislative legerdemain in the white light 
of publicity. There was no opportunity to stop the 
progress of the bill in the house, but when it reached 
the senate it was referred to the temperance commit- 
tee, whose chairman, strangely enough, was notori- 
ously unfriendly to temperance legislation. Here it 
was expected to slumber — and here it slumbered for 
quite a while. 



Leader in the IndIxINa Senate 107 

It was at this juncture that Kern entered the story. 
At this time he held the traditional views of the In- 
diana Democracy on the subject of personal liberty 
and sumptuary legislation. He was himself a tee- 
totaler. But he had a profound contempt for hypoc- 
risy, and in his fight to expose the perfidy of the 
double-dealing policy of the opposition it is probable 
that he, more than any other one man, was respon- 
sible for the passage of the Nicholson law. 

On March 4th, toward the close of the session, he 
threw a bomb into the opposition camp by offering 
a resolution instructing the temperance committee to 
have the bill before the senate, with or without rec- 
ommendation, by 3 o'clock on the following after- 
noon. This did not harmonize with the plans of the 
committee or its chairman, but the resolution was 
adopted and the fun commenced. The Evansville 
agreement had been given a tremendous jolt. The 
temperance forces took their cue and flocked to the 
senate. The white light of publicity began to beat 
unmercifully upon the proceedings. Taken unaware 
and not yet prepared to submit a report the commit- 
tee on the following day asked for another day's 
delay, which was granted over the protest of ten 
members led by Kern, who jocularly moved after the 
vote was taken that a committee be appointed "to 
draft resolutions of respect for the late lamented 
Nicholson law." These tactics, by casting suspicion 



108 Life of John W. Kern 

of the sincerity of pretended friends of the measure, 
made further delay impossible, and on the following 
day the bill was reported with amendments. After 
this Kern applied himself to amendments. He was 
one of four who voted in favor of permitting the 
saloons to remain open until midnight in cities hav- 
ing a population of 25,000 and over. And he fol- 
lowed this by his own amendment, known as the 
"drug store amendment," for which he has always 
been remembered. This provided that it should be 
unlawful for any spirituous, vinous or malt liquors to 
be sold or given away in drug stores except on the 
written prescription of a reputable physician. This 
amendment was adopted and a motion to reconsider 
was lost. When the bill as amended went to a vote 
Kern was one of nine who voted against it. 

But this was not to be the end of the fight. In the 
house the Kern amendment was rejected and in con- 
ference the amendment was changed to read that in 
drug stores liquor should not be sold or given away 
without prescription in any quantity less than a 
quart. When the conference report was submitted 
in the senate Kern made an onslaught on the drug 
store proviso as changed, resulting in a spirited de- 
bate which gave him an opportunity to attack the 
sincerity of the majority. Accused of introducing the 
drug store amendment in the interest of the saloons, 
he demanded to know whether the bill was intended 



Le^vder in the Indiana Senate 109 

"to advance the cause of temperance or mainly for 
the purpose of legislating against one business in fa- 
vor of another," and in a scathing denunciation of 
the spirit of hypocrisy he pictured the sanctimonious 
double-dealer, well known at that time, who loftily 
attacked the saloon while stopping at the corner drug 
store on his way home from church for his dram or 
bottle behind the prescription case. 

That the dominant party's plans had been sadly 
disarranged by Kern's activities was disclosed in its 
resentment toward him manifested in the passage of 
a resolution two days after the passage of the bill 
"extending on behalf of the majority our thanks to 
the minority and the governor for their assistance in 
passing the Nicholson law, and especially to Senator 
Kern of Marion for his drug store amendment to said 
bill, which he failed to honor by his affirmative vote." 

This resolution was not a mere bit of jocularity, 
but an attempt to at least neutralize the responsibility 
of the Republican party in violating the Evansville 
pledge to the "wets." Governor Matthews had taken 
no part in the fight and had merely signed the bill 
when presented to him in due course for his signa- 
ture, and the introduction of his name was merely 
intended to call the attention of the "wets" to the 
fact that a Democratic governor had signed and not 
vetoed it. And the special reference to Kern was in 
line with the excuse made to the "wets" for failure 



110 Life of John W. Kern 

to smother the bill or to hopelessly emasculate it that 
but for his resolution calling upon the committee to 
report it would not have seen the light of day. In 
this they succeeded. There was never a time after 
that when Kern was not looked upon as unfriendly 
by the so-called liberal element, and his mandatory 
resolution compelling a report on the Nicholson bill 
was always given as evidence of his hostility. As a 
matter of fact he was not in favor of the bill. He 
expressed his views in his vote on the final passage. 
But the Republican leaders had solemnly pledged 
the party to genuine temperance legislation and had 
been overwhelmingly placed in power with that un- 
derstanding — at the same time receiving the support 
of the liberals through a secret understanding. The 
hypocrisy of their position disgusted Kern, who de- 
liberately set about to compel them to legislate in ac- 
cordance with pre-election promises to the temper- 
ance forces whose support they had received, or to 
expose their hypocrisy. He succeeded in both, and 
he was never forgiven by either the Republican poli- 
ticians or the liberals. It is not recorded either that 
he ever profited greatly from the temperance people. 
But he satisfied himself. 

All in all the session of 1895 was one of the most 
vicious in the history of the commonwealth. The 
charges made by Kern in his speech against the 
gerrymander were true. It was literally true that 



Leader in the Indiana Senate 111 

the Burns' statutes purchased with the state's money 
for the state, to be used during the session by mem- 
bers, were actually stolen and carried away. But he 
might have added that there have been few sessions 
of the Indiana legislature during which there was 
so much general talk of the corrupt use of money. 
The hotels swarmed with lobbyists, and even the 
female lobbyist, a rather rare species at that time in 
Indiana, made her appearance, and in one instance 
created something of a scandal by being ejected from 
a hotel. Until then most of the lobbying had been 
done in the capitol, openly, but this session ushered 
in a new departure — the lobbyists did their work in 
hotels and other places. 

This ended Kern's career in the state senate. It had 
profited him greatly in that it had presented to the 
Democracy of the state a new Kern — a Kern sea- 
soned, sobered by experience, who retained his youth- 
ful fire, intensity and eloquence. He entered the sen- 
ate personally popular and widely known, but gen- 
erally looked upon as a merely effective campaign 
speaker; he left it a recognized leader of the party 
in the state. 

The estimate of his colleagues has been furnished 
me by Hon. M. A. Sweeney of Jasper, who served 
with him: 

"He was by common consent, and without the least 
assumption on his part, the admired and beloved 



112 Life of John W. Kern 

leader of our party there. I feel fully justified in 
asserting that no member on either side of that body 
of legislators ever questioned his mental superiority, 
personal integrity or magnanimity. In that arena of 
public debate, in which the flow and ebb of acrimo- 
nious clashings in verbal swordsmanship afford so 
splendid an opportunity to draw the line of cleavage 
between the cheap politician and the true gentleman 
and statesman, it was there he stood without a peer, 
personifying the calmness of power. 

"His kind assistance to, and his painstaking pa- 
tience with the embryonic, ambitious, would-be 
statesmen of his own or of the opposite party, were 
almost paternal in him; if your cause had merit, you 
ever found a true and helpful friend. No matter 
how arduous and exacting his senatorial duties were, 
and they were multifarious and onerous, he never 
hesitated to listen graciously to our crude ideas of 
state craft, and he gave very much of his valuable 
time in aiding and advising us in whipping into legal 
forms statutes the vain glory for which was worn by 
others, while he was always willing to remain un- 
known in all such affairs. He did not have an enemy 
in that body, and if he had it was not Senator Kern's 
fault, for his suavity of manner and his courtliness 
of bearing toward every one won all to him. 

"His arguments before the senate, or before its 
important committees, coming from his well-stored 
and well-balanced mind, always gained keen atten- 
tion, for they were characterized by clearness, force, 
and dignity of diction; they were made to enlighten 
and instruct his audience, and he never permitted 



Leader in the Indiana Senate 113 

himself to descend to buncombe, billingsgate, spe- 
cious pleading, or petty politics. His language was 
chaste Anglo-Saxon 'from the pure well of English 
unalloyed.' He preferred to inform his hearers by 
presenting plain, pertinent facts rather than to resort 
to the tricks of the rhetorician in order to secure the 
passing tribute of applause." 



CHAPTER VI 

Europe and the Campaign of '96 

IN the summer of 1895, after the adjournment of 
the legislature, Mr. Kern, on the advice of his 
physician, went to Europe for a period of rest and 
relaxation, and spent a few weeks in France and 
England. We are permitted glimpses of him in his 
meanderings through letters written at the time to 
his father and sister, Mrs. Sarah E. Engel. He sailed 
from New York on June 29th on a German ship 
"not fashionable but substantial and safe." Landing 
at Southampton, he hurried on to London, greatly 
impressed by "the beautiful agricultural country — 
said to be the finest part of rural England, and rival- 
ing in appearance any part of America I have seen," 
but amused at "the little Jim Crow cars" and the 
"freight cars about the size of covered wagons." In 
London, where he stayed at the Morley Hotel, he 
was fascinated by the throbbing greatness of things. 
"It is as far ahead of New York as New York is 
ahead of Indianapolis," he wrote. Here he settled 
down to seeing London in his own way, and we find 
him seated beside the driver of an omnibus, "getting 
a bird's-eye view" of the city, and for an additional 
six pence having pointed out the great parks, the 
British Museum, St. Pauls, London Bridge, the Bank 



Europe and the Campaign of '96 115 

of England, the Tower, the Mansion House, the 
Temple, Westminster, and the various churches. 
Having thus got his bearings he settled down to in- 
tensive touring, delighted with everything he saw 
except the people whose condescension he resented. 
General Patrick Collins of Boston, a friend, and then 
consul-general to London, was attentive, and he had 
a letter to T. P. (Tay Pay) O'Connor, the famous 
member of the Irish parliamentary party, who 
pointed out the lions of English public life in the 
House of Commons. He spent some time in the 
courts, visited points of historic interest, and at- 
tended services in St. Pauls, which he found "be- 
wildering." "The music of the great double organ 
and all the hundred voices of the choir, reverberat- 
ing throughout the arches and the domes, was beau- 
tiful, but awe inspiring." 

At the Morley Hotel he met Judge Alton B. 
Parker, a prominent member of the New York bar, 
destined to be his party's nominee for the presidency 
nine years later, and discovering many mutual inter- 
ests and friendships, an attachment was formed 
which existed to the day of Kern's death. The two 
lawyers tramped the tourist's path together and had 
many a chat at the Morley. 

After little more than a week in London he crossed 
to Paris, where his personal friend and political co- 
worker, Samuel E. Morss, editor of The Indian- 



116 Life of John W. Keen 

apolis Sentinel, was consul-general, and here he was 
given every advantage that the official prestige of 
his friend could bestow. He was delighted with 
Paris, "the most beautiful city in the world," and 
especially with the French people. "The people of 
all classes are happy," he wrote his father, "and go 
in for having a good time. The very poorest classes 
are bright, cheerful, and clean. I don't think I saw 
a sad face in France. They are quite prosperous and 
show great evidence of thrift." Morss turned his 
office over to his subordinates and devoted his entire 
time to entertaining the man from home, and it is 
not improbable that not a little Hoosier politics was 
discussed between the two. 

While it was his intention to visit Ireland, his ex- 
perience in channel crossing on his return to Eng- 
land was so disheartening that he abandoned his orig- 
inal plan of visiting Dublin and the Killarney lakes. 
On learning that the weather at the time was abomi- 
nable in Scotland he decided to spend the remainder 
of his time in England and see some of the country 
outside London. "One of the most interesting trips 
I have made," he wrote Mrs. Engel, "was to the 
Shakespeare country. I went from London to Har- 
row, then to Rugby, made famous by Tom Hughes' 
great book, then to Coventry, then to Lemington, a 
great watering place, thence by coach along the 
banks of the Avon to Stratford-on-Avon, where 



Europe and the Campaign of '96 117 

Shakespeare was born and is buried. This trip — 
thirteen miles — was through the most beautiful coun- 
try I have ever seen. Stratford is a little city of 8,000, 
and one sees and hears nothing but Shakespeare. 
The house in which he was born, and the cottage 
where Ann Hathaway lived and in which he courted 
and married her are very old, but are preserved by 
trustees. The house in which he was born is filled 
with Shakespearian relics of every description. His 
tomb and monument are in the village church. The 
people get their principal living from tourists. 
There have been over 20,000 visitors there this year, 
and each one has something to pay every time he 
turns around." 

On this trip, too, he visited Warwick Castle, and 
later on Windsor Castle. Like a true Democrat he 
did not fail to "drive out three miles to the fields of 
Runnymede, where the English barons compelled 
King John to sign the Magna Charta;" and the sen- 
timental side of his nature impelled him to make a 
journey of reverence to the tomb of Gray, the poet, 
and the church whose curfew "tolls the knell of part- 
ing day." Contrary to the spirit of the average tour- 
ist, he took a deep interest in English farms and 
farming and in a letter to his sister, who lived upon 
a farm, he observed: "The farming here is splendid. 
Every foot of ground is made to produce and pro- 
duce well. There is no poor farming here, and no 



118 Life of John W. Kern 

poor crops this year. The wheat is now being har- 
vested. They raise no corn here — but produce an 
article called 'horse beans' — something similar to our 
peas, which the horses thrive on. The horses are 
splendid beasts. Those used for draft purposes look 
nearly as large as elephants, and their driving horses 
are very fine. It is a great mutton-eating nation, and 
sheep are raised by the thousand — you see them 
everywhere." 

By the latter part of August he admits that he has 
"had his fill of sightseeing and anxious to get back 
home and to work." His health was greatly benefited 
by the change when he reached New York in the 
first week of September. 



At the time of his return to Indiana the great de- 
bate to determine the position the Democratic party 
was to take on the money question had commenced. 
The administration of Grover Cleveland had lost the 
confidence of the major part of the party in the state. 
The bond issue stuck in the craws of the masses. The 
silver wave was sweeping over the country, destined 
to leave many wrecks in its wake and to throw upon 
the rocks many new lights of party leading. In 
Indiana the silver forces were militantly aggressive 
and were busily engaged in perfecting an organiza- 
tion which was to make history. In view of his sub- 



Europe and the Campaign of '96 119 

sequent intimacy with Mr. Bryan and the radical 
forces of the party, it is interesting to find that during 
the period of the preliminary debate Mr. Kern re- 
mained unresponsive to the fervent appeals of the 
friends of silver. As the time for the state convention 
approached, the conservative members of the party 
took counsel in the hope of stemming the tide which 
gave promise of committing the party aggressively 
to the cause of the free and unlimited coinage of 
silver without awaiting the action of any other na- 
tion. Many of the most influential and prominent 
party leaders in the state were strongly opposed to 
such action, and were convinced that such a course 
would work irreparable disaster to the party pros- 
pects for years to come. It was not a new party battle 
in Indiana. In other days, when the fiat money idea 
was uppermost in the public mind, it required all 
the prestige of the leadership of Hendricks and Mc- 
Donald to dissuade the party from adopting a radical 
platform in conformity with the greenback philos- 
ophy. 

About the middle of May^ 1896, a free silver con- 
ference was held in Indianapolis which bubbled with 
enthusiasm and seethed with the spirit of revolution. 
Some of the leaders in the movement boldly an- 
nounced that the failure of the party to stand for the 
free and unlimited coinage of silver would release 
them from all allegiance to the party in the cam- 



120 Life of John W. Kern 

paign. The conservatives, or gold men, determined 
to challenge w^hat they considered a dangerous move- 
ment at a mass meeting v^hich was called at the Eng- 
lish Opera House in Indianapolis on the evening of 
May 28. This meeting was addressed by some of the 
most popular leaders in the state and was presided 
over by Captain W. R. Myers, long an idol upon the 
stump. Speeches were made by Alonzo G. Smith, 
former attorney-general, former Congressman Wil- 
liam D. Bynum, who had been a prime favorite with 
the Indiana Democracy and enjoyed a well-deserved 
national reputation, former Congressman George W. 
Cooper of Columbus and Mr. Kern. Resolutions 
were adopted on the motion of Pierre Gray, son of 
Governor Isaac P. Gray, four years before Indiana's 
candidate for the presidency. A committee was ap- 
pointed to work for "the cause of sound money" at 
the coming convention, consisting of such well- 
known Democrats as Thomas Taggart, John W. 
Holtzman, S. O. Pickens, John R. Wilson, Capt. 
W. R. Myers, William D. Bynum, James E. Mc- 
CuUough, James L. Keach and John W. Kern. It 
would be a travesty of history to ignore the fact that 
previous to the action of the national convention at 
Chicago Mr. Kern was strongly opposed to the free 
and unlimited coinage of silver without regard to 
the action of any other nation. He realized early 
the trend of the times and the difficulty of changing 



Europe and the Campaign of '96 121 

the drift. Times were hard. The party had been 
shamefully betrayed by the Interests in the making 
of the tariff law. The bond issue had divorced the 
confidence of the rank and file of the party from 
Cleveland. The spirit of revolution was in the air. 
ylt required courage to stand forth and command the 
tide to turn back. 

One week later this mass meeting was met by the 
silver forces with one of their own at the same place 
which was addressed by John Gilbert Shanklin, the 
brilliant editor of The Evansville Courier, and 
former Congressman Benjamin F. Shively, who was, 
by long odds, the most eloquent champion of silver 
in the state. 

The battle was on. 

Seldom has a more turbulent, revolutionary con- 
vention ever met in Indiana than that which was 
called to order in Tomlinson Hall to fight out the 
party differences on the money question. Bynum, 
who had made himself a party idol by his mastery 
of the tariff question and his haughty defiance of 
Tom Reed, was hooted to silence repeatedly when 
he attempted to speak. He stood stubbornly minute 
after minute waiting for the lull in the storm that 
never came and finally took his seat. Later the mo- 
tion of John E. Lamb of Terre Haute to grant him 
ten minutes for a hearing was hooted down. The 
gold delegation from Marion county (Indianapolis) 



122 Life of John W. Kern 

was thrown out over the written protest of Kern, the 
only member of the committee on credentials who 
was not a silver man. Governor Mathews was in- 
dorsed for president, and only the personal plea of 
Shanklin prevented the convention from making him 
a delegate at large in the place of a gold man per- 
sonally selected by the governor. Mr. Shively was 
nominated for governor and started out on his re- 
markable canvass in which his speeches were only 
approached in brilliancy by those of Bryan. Samuel 
M. Ralston also began his career in state politics as 
the nominee for secretary of state. And a little later 
at Chicago Bryan swept the convention ofif its feet 
with his famous "cross of gold and crown of thorns" 
speech and set forth on the most amazing canvass in 
the history of the republic. 

Then the nation began to boil and bubble as never 
before. Silver men deserted the Republican party, 
and gold men proclaimed rebellion from the Demo- 
cratic ranks. Families were divided and father ar- 
rayed against son and brother against brother. No- 
where was the schism more pronounced than in In- 
diana. 

The Democratic state organization was disrupted 
and the state chairman thrown out in the midst of the 
campaign. Through the summer and on until the 
election in November great crowds surged and ar- 
gued and fought at all the principal street corners of 



Europe and the Campaign of '96 123 

Indianapolis from early morning until night, and 
peaceful citizens were awakened from sleep at 5 
o'clock in the morning by wrangling newsboys, em- 
bryo politicians, debating in loud and angry tones 
beneath their windows. 

Many Democrats who had opposed the free silver 
men before the convention and remained within the 
party during the campaign found themselves the ob- 
ject of suspicion and distrust. Some of these stoically 
maintained silence. Others tried to make their party 
loyalty beyond question by promptly reversing them- 
selves on the platform. 

"Where are you going?" asked a friend of the elo- 
quent Frank B. Burke, then United States district 
attorney. 

"I am going down to Jeffersonville to answer an 
absolutely unanswerable speech against free silver 
made down there two weeks ago by a man named 
Burke," drawled the district attorney without a smile. 

Many, long prominent in the party councils, 
openly espoused the cause of Palmer and Buckner. 
Some crossed the twilight zone into the Republican 
party, where most of them remained. 

The one Democrat in Indiana who had fought for 
gold whose fidelity to the party was never questioned 
after the Chicago convention spoke was John W. 
Kern. 

He had made it clear in the English Opera House 



124 Life of John W. Kern 

speech that he would abide by the will of the major- 
ity. Believing as he did that the public interest is 
wrapped up in the success of the general underlying 
principles of the Democratic party, he was unwill- 
ing, because of his disagreement with some one plank 
in the platform in any one campaign to be a party to 
the wrecking of the organization. That alone, and 
his willingness to abide by the will of the majority, 
would have kept him within the party and at its 
service. 

But it was not long until he had other grounds for 
actively espousing the cause of the party under the 
leadership of Mr. Bryan. The instant rallying of 
the Black Horse Cavalry of the special interests 
against him, the methods of open intimidation and 
coercion of workingmen, the political blackmailing 
of bank depositors, the collection and distribution of 
a corruption fund never before thought of in Amer- 
ican history soon gave to the conflict the aspect of a 
battle between plutocracy and democracy. The silver 
question became a mere incident in the struggle. It 
carried with it other issues to which he was ardently 
attached — the income tax, the popular election of 
senators, the protection of workingmen from the co- 
ercion of their employers at the polls, the correction 
of the evils of the injunction. On the broader issues 
of that campaign he threw himself with his custom- 
ary zest into the fight. Early in the campaign he met 



Europe and the Campaign of '96 125 

Mr. Bryan for the first time. In his interview he 
made it bluntly known that before the convention he 
had fought against silver, and his frankness and di- 
rectness at that time so won the confidence and re- 
spect of The Commoner that he said he "could ask 
no stronger support." He emerged from the cam- 
paign stronger with the masses of the party than ever 
before, and more than ever convinced that in view of 
the sinister trend of the times the wrecking of the 
party would have been one of the greatest tragedies 
in American history. 



T 



CHAPTER VII 

Gubernatorial Battles 

I 

HE Democratic leaders in Indiana approached 
the campaign of 1900 with a feeling of con- 
siderable pessimism. The disafifected element which 
had left the party in 1896 on the money issue had not 
yet returned to the fold, and it seemed improbable 
that the white-heat enthusiasm of Mr. Bryan's fol- 
lowing in his first campaign could be maintained. 
The election of 1898 had brought no rift in the 
clouds, and the party in power seemed hopelessly 
entrenched. With conditions prosperous, our armies 
but recently victorious, our possessions increased 
through the acquisition of Porto Rico and the Phil- 
ippines, with all the pomp and circumstances of a 
national triumph with an enemy waving the flag, the 
Democratic party was about to make its appeal to 
the people on an abstract question of political morals. 
We were to discuss the wrongs of a people thousands 
of miles distant, of another race and color, of whom 
hundreds of thousands of Americans had never 
heard. And while these wrongs could not inevitably 
react upon our own people the practical politician 
and psychologist of the stump was painfully con- 
scious of the difficulty of making that point suf- 
ficiently impressive. Under these circumstances 



^Gubernatorial Battles 127 

there was na great demand for places on the state 
ticket, and a? late as the first of May no one had 
manifested ai^y desire to lead the party as its candi- 
date for governor. About the first of May, Frank B. 
Burke announced his candidacy. He was in many 
respects one of the most remarkable men in the po- 
litical history of the state, at times under the proper 
inspiration thrillingly eloquent, courageous as a lion, 
and possessed of a personality that endeared him to 
friend and foe alike. As United States district attor- 
ney under Cleveland he had won the admiration of 
the bench and bar and made an impression upon the 
people in the streets. But with all his splendid quali- 
ties he was lacking in one of the essentials of safe 
leadership — he was utterly deficient in tact and al- 
ways preferred a fight to a compromise. In brief he 
was a genius with all that that sometimes implies of 
weakness. 

At that time I was writing editorials on The Sen- 
tinel, and, being one of Burke's youthful idolators, 
I wrote a fervent editorial eulogy on the day of his 
announcement and took it to Samuel E. Morss, the 
editor and former consul-general to Paris, for his 
approval. He read it with evident amusement and 
tactfully suggested that while Mr. Burke was a bril- 
liant and able man, there might be other candidates 
and it would not be advisable for The Sentinel to 
take such a pronounced stand that early. I did not 



128 Life of John W. Kern 

know at the time, being scarcely out of my teens, that 
the "organization" forces were bending every eflfort 
to persuade Mr. Kern to enter the lists. The first 
choice of the organization was Mayor Taggart, who 
persisted in his refusal to make the race. It was then 
that the politicians turned to Kern. 

Independent of politicians associated with what 
may be described as "the organization" were scores 
of Democrats throughout the state, personal friends 
and admirers of Mr. Kern, who were insisting that 
he become a candidate. He had made up his mind 
definitely that he would not. Aside from the unat- 
tractiveness of the political prospects he had personal 
reasons for preferring to stay out. But with the an- 
nouncement of Burke, who was not popular with the 
"organization," and the resulting necessity for an 
early challenge of his candidacy, the forces at that 
time predominate in the Democratic party in the 
state centered with practical unanimity upon Kern. 

On the evening of May 15 The Indianapolis 
News carried the item that "Last night influential 
Democrats were in conference at the home of Samuel 
E. Morss, editor of The Sentinel, until after mid- 
night, and it is taken for granted that they were dis- 
cussing the platform on which Kern will conduct 
his campaign." 

It was not the first time that newspapers have mis- 
interpreted the purpose of a conference of poli- 




Kern's Speaking Posture 

Taken while addressing the people at the monument, Indianapolis, by 
Leslie Nagley, staff photographer, Indianapolis Times 



Gubernatorial Battles 129 

ticians. Mr. Morss, who aspired to be something of 
a Warrick, and whose ability and prestige as the 
editor of the state organ of his party gave him con- 
siderable influence in party councils determined to 
force the issue upon Kern, and with that in view he 
invited about twenty prominent party leaders to a 
dinner at his home. Among those invited was Mr. 
Kern. The victim of the dinner tenaciously held out 
against the insistence of his friends, until toward 
midnight he was being charged with being a party 
ingrate for his refusal to respond to the demand. It 
had been the hope of Mr. Morss that a formal an- 
nouncement could be prepared that night for The 
Sentinel of the following morning, but it was not 
until the party broke up and Mr. Kern had been fol- 
lowed into the street with importunities that he 
finally agreed to be a candidate. It was then too late 
to prepare a formal announcement, but the wily 
Morss, in probable fear of a recantation on the mor- 
row, took the precaution to announce in the paper 
the next morning that "in answer to a direct ques- 
tion," Mr. Kern had said that he would be a candi- 
date. On the following day he did prepare a short 
formal statement announcing his candidacy. 

The contest for the nomination was one-sided. All 
the organization forces were with Kern. He and 
Burke attended a number of county conventions, and 
the latter made many warm admirers by the remark- 



130 Life of John W. Kern 

able eloquence with which he assailed the imperial- 
ism of the hour. Mr. Kern found himself in the posi- 
tion of being "the machine candidate" and had to 
stand the brunt of that. At the eleventh hour, with 
all the delegates in Indianapolis and a large part of 
them crowded into the corridors of the Grand Hotel, 
a new element was injected into the situation, when 
Benjamin F. Shively, who had been the nominee in 
1896, entered the lobby and was greeted with great 
enthusiasm. He had made a brilliant canvass four 
years before. A man of imposing presence, tall and 
slender, and dressed that night in a light gray suit 
which served to accentuate his physical advantages, 
it is not surprising that his appearance carried with 
it the suggestion of a third candidate. The fact that 
he went to his room immediately and into conference 
and refused to be interviewed gave color to the ru- 
mors afloat that he would be a candidate. This was 
set at rest, however, on the morrow, when the chair- 
man of the convention read a letter from Shively 
positively removing himself from consideration. It 
required one ballot to nominate and Kern was an 
easy victor. It was in moving that the nomination 
be made unanimous that Burke thrilled the conven- 
tion with what was perhaps the most moving bit of 
oratory ever heard in Indiana. 

It is needless here to review the campaign which 
followed. It began with imperialism, the paramount 



GuBERNATORIxiL BaTTLES 131* 

issue following Mr. Bryan's remarkable arraignment 
in his speech of acceptance at Indianapolis, but other 
issues such as the tariff and the trusts soon entered, 
and throughout the campaign Kern discussed them 
all together with state issues that now have no his- 
toric interest. The only incident of special interest 
was the attempt of the Republican papers to create 
divisions in the Democracy by circulating the report 
that the friends of Kern were engaged in an effort 
to trade off Bryan for him. This, of course, was a 
peculiarly mean and malicious falsehood and was 
denounced by Kern as "an atrocious lie." It is true 
that Kern did run a little ahead of the national ticket, 
but this was due to local conditions, personal friend- 
ships, and the fact that some conservative Democrats 
who had left the party in 1896 and did not vote the 
national ticket in 1900 voted for Kern. The entire 
ticket was defeated — Kern had made his sacrifice 
and it was not to be his last. 



Before describing Mr. Kern's second race for gov- 
ernor in 1904 it is necessary to a proper appreciation 
of his political character to refer to a few events of 
the intervening four years, one of which served to 
definitely fix his political status not only in Indiana 
but in the nation. While his tendencies had always 
been progressive and his instincts had always im- 



132 Life of John W. Kern 

pelled him to battle for the under dog, we have seen 
that the startling, revolutionary incidents of the na- 
tional convention of 1896 had momentarily threat- 
ened to divert him from his natural course. He had 
not comprehended instantly the momentous meaning 
of that revolution. And while his party loyalty had 
never wavered he had been ranked among Indiana 
politicians as a conservative. He had become a warm 
supporter of Mr. Bryan before the campaign of 1900, 
but henceforth he was to burn all bridges behind him 
and stand forth quite frankly not only as a progres- 
sive, but as a radical. In doing so, however, he was 
inclined at all times to hold forth the olive branch 
to those who had left the party in 1896. 

In the December following the election he was 
given an opportunity to develop his point of view, 
and under circumstances calculated to attract na- 
tional attention. It was the occasion of the annual 
dinner given by the Jefferson Club of Lincoln, Ne- 
braska, to Mr. Bryan, an event of the greatest politi- 
cal significance. While several speakers of national 
prominence were on the program, "the eloquent and 
stalwart Democratic leader of Indiana," as he was 
described by The Omaha World-Herald, was easily 
the feature of the evening aside from the guest of 
honor. By attending the dinner he had conclusively 
cast his political fortunes with that of the great Com- 
moner, and in his speech of this occasion he left no 



Gubernatorial Battles 133 

doubt as to his position. Beginning with a reference 
to the natural conservatism of the Indiana Democ- 
racy and the policy of Hendricks to always concili- 
ate party differences when it could be done without a 
compromise of principles, he continued: 

"But while the Democratic party of Indiana is still 
the conservative party it was in the days of Hen- 
dricks, ready now as then to strive to find common 
ground upon which all Democrats who believe in 
constitutional government may stand in coming con- 
flicts, it is to-day holding no parley with deserters. 
Its ears are closed against words of advice gratuit- 
ously offered by alleged Democrats who vote the 
Republican ticket, or by those who in the struggle 
of 1900 withheld both voice and vote from the cause 
of the people and could see in that mighty contest 
only 'a painful and distressing situation.' 

"During the next four years the best thought and 
most conscientious effort of Democratic leadership 
should be exerted to bring about complete harmony 
within our ranks, and a perfect union of all forces 
opposed to the revolutionary schemes of the party 
in power. 

"In this intervening period the work of organiza- 
tion and education should not be neglected, but 
should be carried on in every precinct of the union. 
There is no occasion for crimination or recrimina- 
tion as between Democrats, but there should always 
be a generous and patriotic rivalry as to who will 
render the most eflective service in the work of build- 



134 Life of John W. Kern 

ing up the party organization and strengthening the 
party lines for the coming conflict." 

Referring then in terms of commendation of the 
action of men like Olney, Cockran and Watterson in 
returning to the party in the campaign of 1900, he 
continued: 

"And these men, and all others who had faltered 
in the campaign of 1896 because of economic ques- 
tions involved, received a most royal welcome on 
their return to the Democratic household. It is in 
no spirit of bitterness that I add that there were a 
few men, once prominent in the Democratic ranks, 
who in the midst of all the stirring scenes of this 
mighty contest remained unmoved and silent, except 
that now and then they took occasion to furnish aid 
and comfort to the enemy by making public denial 
that they were in sympathy with the cause of the 
people. For the sake of the future welfare of the 
party I shall attempt no harsh criticism of the course 
of these gentlemen, but I will not forbear saying 
here and everywhere that alleged Democrats who 
could not afford to stand with Bryan, Cockran and 
Watterson in a contest between imperialism and re- 
publicanism, between tariff for revenue and protec- 
tion, between monopoly and the people, and between 
plutocracy and democracy, need not be surprised if 
any gratuitous counsel which they may seek to thrust 
upon the millions of loyal Democrats who fought 
the good fight and kept the faith shall fall upon re- 
luctant ears." 



Gubernatorial Battles 135 

Continuing he predicted that the fight in 1904 
would be based upon the demand "that the encroach- 
ments of the great financial and industrial monopo- 
lies upon the rights of the people shall cease and that 
legislation shall be enacted that will strip them of 
the power to control the political destiny of the na- 
tion." He followed this with a bitter denunciation 
of these powerful interests for their brazen resort to 
coercion and intimidation in both the campaigns of 
1896 and 1900, and concluded with a tribute to Mr. 
Bryan which carried a prophecy: 

"I want to say to all men who are interesting them- 
selves in party organization or reorganization that 
any attempt in any quarter, at any time, to belittle 
the splendid and heroic service rendered in 1896 and 
1900 by that magnificent leader and tribune of the 
people — William Jennings Bryan — or to cast stigma 
or reproach upon him, in any degree, however slight, 
will meet with stern and quick rebuke from the mil- 
lions of Democrats who followed his banner in those 
memorable contests." 

The speech of Kern aroused his hearers to a high 
pitch of enthusiasm, and called forth comment and 
speculation in political circles over the country. The 
Washington correspondent of The Indianapolis 
Journal interpreted the speech to mean that the 
speaker "has been selected by Colonel Bryan as his 
choice for the presidential nomination in 1904," and 



136 Life of John W. Kern 

said "Kern must now be reckoned among the possible 
candidates for the presidential nomination four years 
hence." 

One thing the speech did do — it put Kern to the 
fore, in the minds of the masses, as the chief lieuten- 
ant of Mr. Bryan in Indiana, and he was destined to 
hold this position until his death. It thoroughly 
established him in the leadership of the masses of 
the party, and when the state convention met in 1902 
he was chosen to deliver the "keynote" speech. This 
address, harmonizing in spirit with that at Lincoln, 
dealt with the problems of imperialism, the destruc- 
tion of the Boer republics through the connivance 
of the national administration, the ship subsidy meas- 
ure for which Senator Fairbanks, a candidate for 
re-election, had voted, the Dingley law and the 
trusts. It was in this speech that he touched upon one 
of the scandals of the Spanish-American war — the 
wholesale distribution of officers' commissions among 
the sons of the rich and the politically influential 
without regard to qualification. Fifteen years later 
and in private conversation I heard him discussing 
this scandal and in language indicative of the sin- 
cerity of his disgust. After referring in his speech to 
an attempt by the son of an Indiana millionaire, who 
had been thus honored and had afterward left the 
Democratic party, he said: 



Gubernatorial Battles 137 

"I reflected as I listened to his tirade, delivered 
with all the zeal of a new convert and the malice of 
an apostate, that the Democratic party is the soldiers' 
truest friend; that when the war with Spain was in- 
augurated the Democratic party believed that the 
soldiers who for years had served their country and 
endured the hardships of drill and camp life on the 
frontier, looking forward to a promotion — the sol- 
diers' only reward of merit — should receive the com- 
missions of captain and lieutenant, which were about 
to be distributed with a lavish hand. Those brave 
boys had waited long and served their country faith- 
fully, and now hopefully looked for recognition, but 
while they were in the trenches and on the march a 
force in the rear was at work against them. The sons 
of millionaires, senators and congressmen — men with 
a political pull, who had never seen an hour of mili- 
tary service, were preferred, and received the com- 
missions, and the soldier boys waited on, and in the 
ranks, fought on and won new glory and honor for 
their country." 

This speech was published as a campaign docu- 
ment and scattered broadcast over the state. On the 
stump that fall Mr. Kern participated in his six- 
teenth campaign, in demand all over the state. No 
Democrat stood higher in Indiana; no Indiana 
Democrat stood so high in party circles in the coun- 
try. Such was his political status when the forces 
began to line up for the campaign of 1904. 



138 Life of John W. Kern 

III 

In the late winter of 1903 there was a general feel- 
ing of optimism among Democrats everywhere. The 
greater portion of the men who had left the party in 
1896 had returned to the fold. The bitterness inci- 
dental to their leaving had been mellowed by time. 
Mr. Roosevelt, who had succeeded to the Presidency 
on the assassination of McKinley, had never been 
popular with the working forces of his party, and in 
the role of the proverbial bull in the china shop he 
was keeping business in such a state of constant agi- 
tation that there was a general feeling that this ele- 
ment, which had been the most potential enemy of 
the Democratic party in the two previous presiden- 
tial campaigns, would take revenge upon him by 
throwing its influence to the Democracy. Mr. Bryan 
had made it clear that he would not be a candidate, 
thus leaving the field clear for other men. Acting 
upon the theory that a man unknown in national 
politics would probably possess more strength than 
one with a record to defend, and that this man should 
be found in the state of New York, an organization 
was perfected to urge the nomination of Alton B. 
Parker, an able lawyer, with an unblemished politi- 
cal career, and a distinguished record as a jurist. 
The majority of the Indiana leaders took kindly to 
the suggestion, even the venerable David Turpie 
breaking his rule of silence to bestow upon it his 



Gubernatorial Battles 139 

hearty commendation. The candidacy of Judge 
Parker made a personal appeal to Mr. Kern. While 
in Europe in 1895 he had stopped for some time at 
the same hotel in London where the New York law- 
yer was staying, and a personal friendship had re- 
sulted which had been strengthened by occasional 
meetings in the nine years intervening. Thus it was 
that he had become a strong partisan of the Parker 
candidacy. 

But Judge Parker was not to have the Indiana 
delegation without a contest. William Randolph 
Hearst, the journalist, and a multi-millionaire, be- 
came a candidate and immediately set to work with 
the liberal use of money to build up a strong organi- 
zation in every state. Perhaps we shall never know 
how much was spent, but if as much money was ex- 
pended elsewhere as in Indiana a liberal fortune 
was squandered. At no time did Mr. Bryan mani- 
fest the slightest interest in Hearst's candidacy, and 
it was well known that he looked with considerable 
distrust upon the sincerity of the editor's progressive 
protestations. He was able to appeal, however, to 
many locally influential Democrats who were at- 
tracted by his radicalism, and had not failed to be 
impressed with the support given Mr. Bryan in 
/ his papers at a time when few metropolitan papers 
were not picturing the Nebraskan as an anarchist and 
a repudiationist. These sincere men — and among 



140 Life of John W. Keen 

them were many who were then and afterward 
among Mr. Kern's most valued personal and politi- 
cal friends — were augmented by the sordid and dis- 
reputable element of the larger centers of popula- 
tion. Agents authorized to spend money lavishly 
were sent out over the state to capture the delega- 
tions to the state convention that was to meet in May 
for the exclusive purpose of electing delegates to the 
national convention. The result was the creation of 
an intense feeling. 

In the state delegate convention the contest was 
bitter, the speakers on both sides being interrupted 
with jeers and insults. Mr. Kern, who had taken a 
positive position for Parker, while addressing the 
convention in his behalf, was interrupted with the 
threat — "You need never ask for anything again." 
Thoroughly aroused, he replied that "threats like 
that from men higher up in the Hearst crowd have 
been made, but I have no fear of Hearst or the 
Hearst papers." The convention resulted in the se- 
lection of a Parker delegation, but the contest left 
behind some bitter scars. The prospects of the party 
in Indiana had been compromised. 

This might have been smoothed over before the 
election but for the incidents in the national conven- 
tion, the insulting attitude toward Mr. Bryan, the 
advertisement of the rejection of all his suggestions, 
the blatant anti-Bryan attitude of some of the Parker 



Gubernatorial Battles 141 

forces, and all climaxed by the telegram of Judge 
Parker after his nomination declaring that he would 
run only with the distinct understanding that he stood 
for the gold standard. No Indiana Democrat will 
ever forget the stunning effect of that telegram when 
it was flashed upon the bulletins. It practically as- 
sured the state to the Republicans, for it was inter- 
preted by the rank and file of Mr. Bryan's followers 
as a direct insult to their idol. 

Such was the situation, misunderstood by few, as 
the convention approached in August for the nomi- 
nation of a state ticket. The dearth of aspirants for 
places on the ticket told the story. No one expressed 
the slightest desire for the gubernatorial nomination, 
and again, as had come to be its wont, the party 
turned to Kern. 

To all such suggestions he gave a stern denial — 
and yet he finally agreed to make his second sacri- 
fice. It was the fashion among his enemies during 
his lifetime to refer to Mr. Kern as a persistent office 
seeker, a "perpetual candidate," when, as a matter of 
historic truth, he seldom sought a nomination and 
in most instances was forced by tremendous pressure 
from his party to accept nominations his judgment 
warned him against. 

He became a candidate for governor in 1904 on 
the earnest personal request of Judge Parker, the 
presidential nominee of his party. 



142 Life of John W. Kern 

Having always understood this to be the case, I 
personally appealed to Judge Parker for the facts, 
and the following letter to me definitely settles the 
matter: 

"My first acquaintance with John Kern began in 
London in 1895. We both happened to be stopping 
at the same hotel, and, as we knew about each other, 
we soon came together and formed a friendship that 
I always treasured. 

"The story that you have heard from time to time, 
as you stated, that I requested Mr. Kern to accept 
the nomination for governor of Indiana in 1904 is 
quite true. But I did this only after seeing quite a 
number of the leading Democrats of the state. With- 
out exception, these men said that Mr. Kern would 
be the very strongest man that the party could nomi- 
nate. But some of them, and I think it is no exag- 
geration to say that all of them were of the opinion 
that he would much prefer not to make the race. 
Reaching the conclusion that his nomination would 
strengthen the party in the state, I telegraphed him, 
asking him to visit me, which he did, at my home. 
After discussing the party situation in the state with 
him, as I had with many others from the state, I told 
him that without exception every man I had seen 
from Indiana had said that he would be the strong- 
est nominee that the party could find, and hence 
I ventured to urge him to accept the nomina- 
tion if the convention should, as I believed it 
would, tender it to him unanimously. The result 
you know." 



Gubernatorial Battles 143 

Having responded to the personal request, which 
as a good party man he considered a command from 
the commanding officer of his party in that cam- 
paign, Mr. Kern plunged into the campaign with his 
usual zeal and made a thorough canvass of the state. 
The extent of the Republican landslide that year is 
a matter of history. Kern had made his second sac- 
rifice. 



^ CHAPTER VIII 

Europe and Asheville: An Interlude 
I 

IN July, 1906, feeling the need of rest and relaxa- 
tion, Mr. Kern, accompanied by Alonzo Green 
Smith, formerly attorney-general of Indiana, sailed 
from New York for a few weeks of meandering and 
sightseeing in the British Isles. It would be hard to 
imagine a more incongruous couple for an European 
jaunt. The ex-attorney-general was an able lawyer 
of much strength of character, a rough diamond ac- 
cused by his enemies of "practicing law with a club." 
More interested in law and politics than in scenery 
and shrines, more practical than sentimental, to him 
that scenery which would not yield a harvest was un- 
interesting waste land, and the building of venerable 
years and rich in history could not compare with a 
New York sky-scraper with its modern conveniences. 
The travelers were fond of one another, but they 
were soon to find that nature had never intended that 
they should tour Europe together. 

As both were traveling for their health, they took 
a slow, ten-day boat, leaving New York harbor on 
July 2ist and reaching Glasgow on the last day of 
the month. The trip over was uneventful and pleas- 
ant enough, although they were five days in a fog 
and two on a rough sea. They had seats at the cap- 



Europe and Asheville: An Interlude 145 

tain's table, made many friends on board, and Kern 
records in a letter that "Green didn't enjoy the rough 
sea or the fog, but didn't grumble much and became 
quite a favorite on board. He won't admit it, but his 
cough is much better and he is greatly improved." 
It was characteristic of Kern to write home the mo- 
ment he landed. "It seems an age since I saw you," 
he wrote the morning of his landing, "I am writing 
this hurriedly and am going out to send a cable, 
which you will get by your breakfast time." Later 
the same day he wrote his second letter home, giving 
more particulars of the voyage and relating how he 
had not thought of "getting sunburned with the sun 
shining through the fog until I found my nose and 
face blistered and looking like an old bloat," how he 
"got some cold cream from an old lady on board," 
how in a rough sea he was thrown from his chair and 
slid down to the rail. "I am getting along very well 
with Mr. Smith," he writes, as though surprised. 
"He is quite willing to do as I suggest and has thus 
far been as docile as a child, except on one or two 
occasions, when he got to talking politics, when he 
partly startled the whales and the other monsters of 
the deep." Unhappily for the peace of the moment, 
but fortunately for future reminiscences, this docility 
was not to last long. 

They lingered for more than two weeks in Scot- 
land visiting the birthplace of Burns and the country 



146 Life of John W. Keen 

associated with his life, riding across Lake Lomore 
and Lake Katrine, the scene of The Lady of the 
Lake, and journeying through the "Trossacks" by 
Sterling and on to Edinburgh. 

His love of home shines out in an incident at Lake 
Katrine, where he waited for the boat to carry him 
across. "It came," he wrote, "bringing a lot of tour- 
ists who were traveling through the Trossacks in the 
opposite direction. As I was rushing down to the 
boat I ran right into Rev. M. L. Haines (First Pres- 
byterian Church at Indianapolis), who was rushing 
up the hill for dear life to get seats on the big brake 
wagon which was waiting at the hotel. He looked 
around and grabbed me by the hand, but we hadn't 
time for a word. There was his wagon and my boat 
both waiting and we both rushed on. The wagon and 
boat, however, were not more than seventy-five yards 
apart, and we spent the several minutes that elapsed 
before the wagon started by standing up and waving 
and making all kinds of friendly signs at each other. 
There were two ladies with him, but I did not see 
them until they got up in the wagon with him and 
joined in the waving. It was like ships passing in 
the night, but Brother Haines looked awfully good 
to me just the same." He was delighted with the 
beauty and the historic charm of Edinburgh. While 
passing through Holyrood Palace and looking at the 
bed in which Mary, Queen of the Scots slept, he was 



Europe and Asheville: An Inteelude 147 

accosted by another Hoosier he had never met but 
who recognized him. By this time the docility of 
Smith had passed. He grumbled over the foolish- 
ness of tramping about looking at old palaces where 
dead queens had slept, and at tumble-down shacks in 
which poets had penned immortal lines. At length, 
patient though he was, Kern issued his declaration of 
independence. "Now don't you pay any attention to 
my movements in a town or on the trip," he said, 
"we haven't time to argue and we are not here for 
argument. I am going just where I please and in the 
way I please and I want you to do the same." The 
result was that Smith thereafter spent hours in his 
room at the hotel writing long letters about places 
he had not seen, and the remainder in regaling the 
natives with lurid stories of the greatness of America. 
"I overheard him," Kern wrote, "telling the other 
day how a calf had been carried over two hundred 
miles in a cyclone." 

The travelers went up to London on August i6th, 
where they went their separate ways, meeting in the 
evening, and not bothering each other with a re- 
cital of their doings of the day. The ancient city 
fascinated Kern as it had ten years before. I am in- 
debted to Thomas R. Shipp of Washington and Indi- 
anapolis for an incident which is interesting in that 
it again reflects Kern's love of home and home 
folks: 



148 Life of John W. Kern 

"When mother and I were in England we hap- 
pened to be lunching with Mr. and Mrs. Henry 
Rauh of Indianapolis in a little cafe opposite Wind- 
sor Castle, when suddenly from an unnoticed alcove 
came a deep voice, saying, 'Has anybody seen any- 
thing of Henry Rauh and Tom Shipp?' Upon inves- 
tigating we found it was Mr. Kern, who was taking 
a quiet lunch with Alonzo Green Smith. Nothing 
would do Mr. Kern but that we all should meet him 
that evening in the Hotel Victoria, where he prom- 
ised an Indiana party. 

"On arriving at the hotel that evening we found 
that in some unaccountable manner Mr. Kern had 
rounded up ten Hoosiers, whom, it seemed, he had 
run into at different times and places in England. 
Mr. Kern furnished the refreshments generously 
and soon there was created a 'Banks of the Wabash' 
atmosphere in Ol' Lunnon. Most of the inimitable 
stories he told were jokes on himself and good- 
natured jests about English manners and customs. I 
wish I could remember some of these, but my recol- 
lection is only of a most unusual and pleasant Indiana 
evening in a far-away country, provided by a gentle 
and genial man, who thought enough of his Indiana 
friends to keep track of them even in the great city 
of London." 

On leaving London the travelers went to Liver- 
pool and thence to Dublin and then on to the Lakes 
of Killarney, where they spent three days. Then on 
to Cork, back to Dublin, then on to Belfast, the 



Europe and Asheville: An Interlude 149 

Giant's Causeway, Londonderry, and finally to Mo- 
velle, where they took passage on the Columbia, a 
slow steamer, for home. 

Some of Kern's most amusing stories of the trip 
that he loved to tell in later years were drawn from 
experiences in Ireland. 

While the travelers were going through the Kil- 
larney country in a jaunting car drawn by an old horse 
that made frequent pauses until prodded by the 
driver, it occurred to Kern to play a joke on Smith, 
who had not failed to observe, especially in Eng- 
land, a tendency to make the tourists pay. Leaning 
close to the ex-attorney-general, Kern whispered, 
"Do you notice how often this horse stops?" 

"Yes. What's the trouble?" Smith asked, instantly 
suspicious. 

"We are paying by the hour," whispered Kern, 
wickedly. 

"Just watch me stop that," growled Smith. 

A moment later the horse again stopped to rest. 

"What kind of a horse is that?" roared the ex- 
attorney-general. 

"It's a scan'ry horse," answered the driver in soft 
tones. 

"And what kind of horse is that?" demanded 
Smith. 

"It's a horse that stops before a beautiful piece of 
scan'ry when the tourist ain't got the sense to appre- 



150 . Life of John W. Kern 

ciate it," sweetly replied the driver without looking 
around. 

The travelers sailed on August 25th, reaching 
New York ten days later, much refreshed but with- 
out having received the physical benefits expected. 



A few weeks later Kern plunged into the cam- 
paign of 1906 with his usual vigor, contracting a cold 
which his weakened physical condition made it im- 
possible for his system to throw off. He began to lose 
weight, his voice became chronically husky, and after 
a thorough examination his physician whispered the 
ominous word — tuberculosis in its incipiency. But 
with his usual determination he prepared to battle 
for his life. He had devoted too much of his time to 
his political activities to have accumulated money, 
and at the age of fifty-seven his determination to get 
well, strengthened by his passionate desire to be of 
further service to his boys of six and seven, he set out 
for Dr. Von Ruck's sanatorium at Asheville, North 
Carolina, about three weeks before Christmas. His 
letters of that period reflect his intense love for his 
family. All thought of worldly honors were put 
aside and his one hope was to be spared for a few 
years more with his wife and children and in their 
service. A separation even under less unhappy cir- 
cumstances was always hard, and it was with a heavy 



Europe and Asheville: An Interlude 151 

heart that he resigned himself to the inevitable exile. 
As Christmas approached the pain of the separation 
was accentuated by the knowledge that he could not 
share in the home festivities. The day after Christ- 
mas he wrote home: 

"On yesterday afternoon I received the box and 
was greatly rejoiced to have the pictures of you all 
and to have your several letters. The book was pleas- 
ing, the cigars good, and the trousers welcome. 
Christmas passed off all right and we had a great 
dinner. I send you a menu card. You mustn't think 
we have that sort of a meal every day, but we do 
pretty well — get plenty of eggs and milk, corn bread 
and buttermilk. On Christmas evening the young 
people here — patients — turned themselves loose, sing- 
ing, playing and raising cain, and you wouldn't have 
thought this much of a hospital. Yesterday was a 
beautiful day. I was out most of the time. ... I 
had a long letter from Judge Hackney. It was full 
of sympathy and affectionate in character and I was 
deeply touched by it. Also had a similar letter from 
my old friend, Dan Simms of Lafayette. Had Julia's 
letter and enjoyed it very much. I have your pictures 
ranged around my room, so that it looks a good deal 
like home. 

"It is cloudy to-day but pleasant. I walked a long 
ways this morning, and am going for another walk 
this evening. . . . I am anxious to hear how you got 
along on Christmas, and whether my dear litle ones 
were pleased with what Santa Claus did for them. I 
am uneasy to hear of dear little Billy's continued 



152 Life of John W. Kern 

sickness with cold. Don't you think you had better 
consult a doctor about him? It seems too bad to keep 
him in the house all winter. I am getting to be a 
great believer in fresh air, and I can't believe that it 
is good for a child as full of life as he is to keep him 
in a hot room all winter. Let him have fresh air and 
sunshine whenever possible. 

"I am feeling very well to-day and the doctors say 
I am doing nicely, though they can't give me much 
definite information yet. I have the same routine 
every day, and while it is a little monotonous some- 
times the time slips by pretty rapidly. I am glad 
Christmas is over, and hope that next Christmas we 
may all be together and be well. It will be a happy 
day for me when I can be with my dear ones again, 
and be strong enough to work and make up for all 
this lost time. Tell John, Jr., that I enjoy his letters 
very much. He writes just like a man. I know I am 
going to be very proud of him. Tell Billy that he 
doesn't write quite as plainly as John, but that I read 
his letter over and over again just the same. With 
lots of love for all of you, I am, as always, your hus- 
band, papa, father and daddy." 

During the three months that he was there he en- 
deared himself to all who came in contact with him 
by the sweetness of his disposition, and even the 
physicians were impressed with his reluctance to be- 
ing a burden to them. He passed his time following 
the doctor's instructions. He read much light litera- 
ture from the library of the sanatorium and wrote 



Europe and Asheville: An Interlude 153 

long letters home, not forgetting individual letters 
for the children. His rare gift of entering into the 
thoughts of childhood is illustrated in his letters to 
John, Jr. 

"My Dear Little Man : 

"Your nice letter came this morning — also mother's 
postcard telling me how nicely Billy was doing. It 
made me feel mighty good to hear that Billy was 
feeling so well after his operation, and to see what a 
fine letter you can write, and how well you are doing 
at school. I know you will be a good boy and help 
rnother all you can while I am away. You must pay 
lots of attention to dear little Billy while he is sick, 
and help entertain him. You must also watch sister, 
and not let her run around too much and stay up late 
at night. Tell mother she must take good care of her- 
self and not get sick, for we can't afford to have more 
than two sick at one time. 

"I am getting better, but it will be some time be- 
fore I can come home. But I get very homesick and 
want to see you all so badly I hardly know what to 
do. The weather is still warm and sunshiny. I wish 
you were here to go walking with me over the hills 
and through the woods. We would have a good time. 
They have a lot of turkeys and chickens on the 
grounds here. Yesterday a turkey gobbler and a 
rooster got to fighting, and they had a great time. 
Then afterward the rooster came around where the 
turkeys were and four big gobblers got after him 
and got him down, and were about to kill him when 



154 Life of John W. Kern 

some of the boys drove him away. Then the rooster 
got up and crowed just as if he had whipped them 
all. ... I had a letter from Judge Anderson this 
morning saying that my cases in his court could wait 
until I got home to be tried. I must close now to get 
this in the mail. Tell mother and sister and Billy 
that I love them very much. You know that I love 
you, don't you? You must write as often as you can 
and take care of things while I am away. With lots 
of love, I am, your FATHER." 

During his Asheville days Mr. Kern spent every 
moment that he could in the open air and soon de- 
veloped into a great pedestrian, trudging all alone 
over the hills and through the woods and into Ashe- 
ville, where he made friends and renewed old friend- 
ships. His appetite returned and he slept well. As he 
felt his strength returning his anxiety to get back 
home and in the harness intensified. Toward the 
middle of February we find him writing in home- 
sick vein to John, Jr. 

"My Dear Little Man : 

"I had your picture of Hiawatha in her tent, and 
also the other pictures made by you and I think they 
are fine. I am very proud of you, and know you are 
going to be a good boy and a good man. I can't tell 
you how much I want to see you and dear little Billy 
and mother and sister. I am very lonesome away 
down here by myself. But it will only be a few weeks 



Europe and Asheville: An Interlude 155 

until I will be at home, and I will be so happy to be 
with you all. 

"I am feeling pretty well this morning. It rained 
yesterday, but the sun is shining now and that always 
makes me feel good. You must not let Billy forget 
his daddy. I expect you will both be grown so I will 
hardly know you. Kiss mother and sister and Billy 
for me, and then make them kiss you for your father." 

In March he left the sanitorium and went home 
for a visit, without being dismissed, and did not re- 
turn until his last illness ten years later. The separa- 
tion under such tragic circumstances had served to 
draw him even closer to his home and family, and it 
is probable when he crossed the threshold of his home 
on that March day in 1907 it was with the determina- 
tion to put behind him political aspirations and to 
conserve his strength for the service of those depend- 
ent on him. Little could he have thought at the time 
that in scarcely more than a year he would be again 
drawn into the vortex of intense political activity, 
and that his career as a national figure was just in the 
dawning. 



CHAPTER IX 
Running with Bryan 



IONG before the Denver convention in 1908 spec- 
^ ulation v^as rife in political circles as to the 
possibility of the nomination of Mr. Kern for the 
vice-presidency. The nomination of Mr. Bryan for 
the third time for the presidency had been a fore- 
gone conclusion since the disastrous experiment of 
returning to "conservatism" in 1904, and the inti- 
macy of the personal relations between The Com- 
moner and Mr. Kern gave color to the rumors. 
There were many who really thought that the Ne- 
braskan had selected the Indiana leader as a running 
mate as much as a year before. All this was purely 
speculative and without any color of justification, 
but it served to keep Mr. Kern's name in the mind 
of the leaders throughout the country. To all sug- 
gestions that he permit the presentation of his name 
to the convention he had invariably made dissent. 
He was not unmindful of the distinction, and his 
personal affection and admiration for the leader of 
the Democracy made the idea of being associated 
with him in a great national campaign enticing. But 
there were sufficient reasons for his desire to escape 
the responsibility that would entail. Scarcely more 
than a year before he had gone to Asheville in a seri- 



Running with Bryan 157 

ous physical condition and not at all certain of his 
ability to successfully combat the tubercular trouble 
that threatened an early termination of his career. 
He had recuperated with unexpected rapidity and 
had left the sanatorium apparently out of danger, but 
he and his family and intimate friends had grave 
doubts of his ability to pass through the ordeal of a 
speaking campaign over the country, with all that 
would mean of exposure, physical exhaustion and 
mental worry. Some time before the convention he 
had confided to one of his friends that but for his 
physical condition and his lack of means he would be 
tempted to encourage the canvassing of his availabil- 
ity because of what it would mean to his children. 
About that time he publicly laughed at the sugges- 
tion of his possible nomination, and in the presence 
of Mr. Bryan. It was on the occasion of a dinner of 
the Indiana Democratic Club at Claypool Hotel in 
Indianapolis. John E. Hollet, president of the club, 
had expressed the hope that he might be selected as 
Mr. Bryan's running mate, and Kern in speaking 
afterward referred facetiously to the suggestion with 
a reminder of his poverty and the necessity, in the 
event of his nomination and election, of being forced 
to "live in one room." In following, Mr. Bryan cre- 
ated much enthusiasm among Kern's friends and 
neighbors by saying that ''if John is elected he will 
not have to live in one room, for I will give him a 



158 Life of John W. Kern 

part of the White House." This good-natured com- 
pliment was immediately given undue significance, 
and from that hour the Indiana Democracy deter- 
mined, if conditions were at all auspicious to press 
the availability of Kern upon the convention. There 
was no formal indorsement by the convention, but 
the contingent of Democrats who turned their faces 
toward Denver did so with the fixed determination 
to take advantage of any proper opportunity to se- 
cure his nomination. 

When Mr. Kern himself started to Denver it was 
with the definite decision to discourage any move- 
ment in his behalf. When he reached Chicago and 
found that the politicians of other states had been 
giving serious consideration to his claims he thought 
it well to publicly make his position clear. This he 
did in a letter to The Indianapolis News, the sub- 
stance of which was carried by the press associations 
throughout the country. 

"Editor of the News: 

"Sir — I am not, have never been, and will not be a 
candidate for the vice-presidential nomination. For 
personal reasons involving matters of business and 
health, I do not want the office and made this plain 
to my friends long ago. 

"My name will not be presented to the convention 
at Denver if I can prevent it, and I think I can. 

"I make this statement for the benefit of my 



Running with Bryan 159 

friends, who may be misled by newspaper reports, 
which persist in making me a candidate against my 
will. John W. Kern. 

"Chicago, July i." 

As one of the delegates to the convention accom- 
panying Mr. Kern to Denver I know that during the 
long journey, during which the party was constantly 
together and discussing the probable results of the 
convention the name of the Indiana leader was not 
discussed, if so much as mentioned, in connection 
with the vice-presidency. John E. Lamb, who, after 
Kern and Taggart, was the most potential and widely 
known man on the delegation, had for months ac- 
cepted the latter's statement that he was not in con- 
dition, physically or financially to make the race. 
Among the members of the party the hope may have 
been expressed that Indiana would be given a place 
on the ticket, but never in the presence of the man all 
had in mind. 

The Kern party arrived at Lincoln, where it had 
been planned to stop over for a conference with Mr. 
Bryan in the early morning and went to bed at once 
at the Lincoln Hotel. It was a dismal night of rain, 
and in the morning the rain was pouring down in 
torrents. 

There was just one occasion during Mr. Kern's 
visit to Lincoln when he might have discussed the 
vice-presidency with Mr. Bryan. Soon after the lat- 



160 Life of John W. Kern 

ter's arrival at the hotel he held a conference with 
Kern and Lamb in the former's room at the Lincoln 
Hotel, and after a time Mr. Lamb retired, leaving 
the two men who were destined to be on the ticket 
together alone. I have satisfied myself that the vice- 
presidency was not a subject of discussion by appeal- 
ing to Mr. Bryan, who informs me that he was in no 
way instrumental in determining the action of the 
convention on the vice-presidency. "There was no 
plan for his nomination," he says. "His availability 
was discussed and it was known that he was of the 
inner circle of my friends, but I did not attempt to 
select a running mate." This is important as dis- 
proving not only the claim that he dictated the nomi- 
nation of Mr. Kern but the report that he exerted 
himself to persuade others to accept the nomination 
before Kern was selected. Mr. Kern left Lincoln for 
Denver with no new reason for assuming that he 
would play any other part in the convention than 
that of chairman of the Indiana delegation and ad- 
vocate of a thoroughly progressive platform. 

On reaching Denver, however, he found that his 
was among the half-dozen names most insistently 
mentioned for the vice-presidency and himself the 
subject of disconcerting notoriety. From the moment 
he was lined up at the Denver railway station for a 
series of snapshots he was not permitted to forget for 
a moment that an unsought honor might be thrust 



Running with Bryan 161 

upon him. Before the convention had been called 
to order some impetuous Hoosiers had hung Kern 
lithographs in the hotel lobbies, and his first inter- 
view on his arrival was in the nature of a disclaimer 
of any designs on the nomination. Before he retired 
the first night he found himself at a dinner given for 
Indiana people at the Savoy Hotel converted into a 
"boom" dinner in his behalf, and this did not escape 
the keen eye of the press. On the following day the 
Illinois delegation, which had stopped at Lincoln, 
arrived with the message that "Kern's nomination 
would be satisfactory to Bryan," and Willis J. Ab- 
bott, described as having charge of publicity work 
for the Commoner, and fresh from Lincoln, de- 
clared in an interview to w^hich many attached sig- 
nificance that "Mr. Bryan thinks a great deal of 
John W. Kern." If these incidents caused Mr. Kern 
any concern he did not show it in any way. He 
threw himself into the preliminary work of the con- 
vention with but one object in view — to make certain 
the adoption of a platform that would be in complete 
harmony with Mr. Bryan's views. At the time of 
the fight over the seating of the Gufify delegation 
from Pennsylvania, which became bitter, he failed 
to disclose the timidity or "discretion" of a candi- 
date, by going in among the delegations on the floor 
and urging them to vote against the seating of the 
delegation of the Standard Oil boss, and in the 



162 Life of John W. Kern 

pointed manner in which he announced the solid 
vote of Indiana against it. Even the press commented 
upon this attitude as calculated to injure his "candi- 
dacy" in view of the opinion of some that "some- 
thing should be done to placate the Guffy element." 

During this time he occupied the same room at 
the Albany Hotel with Mr. Lamb, and it is sig- 
nificant that it was not until the day before the nomi- 
nation was made that the latter gave any thought to 
the possibility of his nomination. The two break- 
fasted, frequently lunched and dined together, but 
Kern's attitude was such that his companion was per- 
suaded that he would not, under any circumstances, 
consider the nomination. But during all the time 
the Indiana contingent was chafing on the bits, eager 
to begin an aggressive propaganda in his behalf. 
Meanwhile the convention was completely at sea as 
to who to nominate. Under these circumstances the 
Indiana delegation and others from Indiana not on 
the delegation, such as John W. Holtzman, prevailed 
upon Kern to relent in his opposition to their wishes 
to the extent of permitting them to make a canvass of 
the sentiment of the convention. 

Thus on July 9, one day before the convention was 
to act, the Indiana contingent met at its headquar- 
ters at the Albany, and in the absence of Mr. Kern 
perfected an organization for this purpose. Stokes 



Running with Bryan 163 

Jackson, the state chairman, presided and the writer 
served as secretary. A committee composed of 
Holtzman, Representative Lincoln Dixon and Jack- 
son immediately selected committees to visit the dele- 
gations of all the states not having a candidate with 
the view to determining their possible reception of 
Kern's candidacy. Never has a little group of men 
set to a task with greater zest or enthusiasm. Never 
have men on such a mission been more cordially re- 
ceived. While Mr. Kern had expressly forbidden 
these committees to represent him as a candidate, 
not a few of his zealous friends disregarded the spirit 
of the instructions, and their reports were of such a 
nature that there was no longer any possibility of 
holding the Hoosiers in check. 

On the morning of the day of the nomination the 
Indianians were called together for the purpose of 
hearing from Mr. Kern a more precise definition of 
his position. He appeared with Lincoln Dixon and 
his manner and appearance indicated that he was 
deeply moved not only by the possible event of the 
afternoon, but by the fervency of his friends' sup- 
port. The customary smile was conspicuously absent 
and he spoke with deep earnestness and feeling. His 
speech was brief, but it so perfectly mirrored the 
spirit of the man, then and always, that it has a 
proper place here. 



164 Life of John W. Kern 

"In the first place I want to thank you all for your 
good wishes and your efforts in my behalf. But my 
position and yours is the same that it has ever been 
since we came to Denver. I am not, and have not 
been a candidate for the vice-presidential nomina- 
tion, and if there is to be any contest, any balloting 
at all, my name will not be presented. That is what 
I wish the position of the Indiana delegation to be, 
and if you agree with me that is what it will be. Let 
us forget about it and go home and carry Indiana. 
God bless you all." 

About the time he was uttering these words the 
leaders from over the country were in conference 
canvassing the availability of the various men men- 
tioned, and here the Indiana leaders' claims were 
being urged by John E. Lamb and Thomas Taggart. 
The conference agreed that the best interest of the 
party would be served by the nomination of Mr. 
Kern. 

It was a feverish group of Indianians that early 
sought their seats in the very front of the great con- 
vention hall at noon that day. When Alabama was 
called for nominations she yielded to Indiana, and 
thus for the first time Thomas Riley Marshall, then 
the nominee for governor in Indiana and destined to 
the rare distinction of two elections to the vice- 
presidency, appeared upon the platform and faced 
the Democracy of the nation. He had only had a 
few minutes for reflection, as it was the original in- 



Running with Bryan 165 

tention that Mr. Lamb, whose voice was almost gone, 
to present the name of Mr, Kern. As the small, wirey 
figure of the now familiar national leader appeared, 
there seemed little probability that he could impress 
the convention in that vast auditorium. There was 
no doubt on the part of the Hoosiers. Nor was there 
any doubt on the part of the convention after he had 
uttered his first sentence. This speech pleased Kern. 
In seconding the nomination of Kern, Governor 
Folk of Missouri described him as a man who was 
fit to represent the platform and fight beside Bryan. 
Martin J. Wade of Iowa described him as a "broad- 
gauged, energetic, faithful, loyal Democrat." Ollie 
James, speaking for Kentucky, referred to him as 
"one of the gamest, knightliest and bravest Demo- 
crats in the Union." George Fred Williams of Mas- 
sachusetts spoke of him as "a man absolutely beyond 
any criticism, whose nomination will arouse the un- 
divided enthusiasm of all the Democrats of the na- 
tion." State after state rose to second the nomination 
of Kern as the enthusiasm of the convention intensi- 
fied, the loyal Hoosier delegation voiceless from 
shouting long before the roll call was ended. The 
names of others were presented, among them the 
name of Charles A. Towne, who soon caught the 
drift of the convention and appeared upon the plat- 
form and withdrew his name to the end that an ac- 
clamation nomination might be made of "that able and 



l66 Life of John W. Kern 

worthy Democratic war horse of Indiana." A motion 
was soon thereafter made to that effect and Mr. Kern 
was nominated without a ballot being taken. 
II 
While the convention was acting Mr. Kern sat 
alone in his room at the Albany smoking. His first 
act on learning of his nomination when enthusiastic 
Hoosier friends burst in upon him was to send a tele- 
gram to his family at Indianapolis — "Have just now 
been nominated. God bless you all." Within a few 
minutes after the convention acted he began to pay 
the penalty of the celebrity thrust upon him. The 
crowds flocked to his room in such numbers that he 
was finally forced to make his escape to Mr. Tag- 
gart's room in the Brown Palace, but almost immedi- 
ately afterward his hiding place was discovered by 
Senator Gore and thereafter no further effort was 
made to find a place of retirement. Among the first 
telegrams that reached him was the one that meant 
more perhaps than any other — from Mr. Bryan: 

"Lincoln, Neb., July lo. 
"Hon. John W. Kern, Denver, Colo. : 

"Accept my warmest congratulations. Your nom- 
ination gratifies me very much. We have a splendid 
platform and I am glad to have a running mate in 
such complete harmony with the platform. Stop off 
and see us on your way east. 

"William Jennings Bryan." 



Running with Bryan 167 

Addressing a delegation of returning Nebraskans 
soon afterwards, Mr. Bryan said: 

"I am sure that when people come to know John 
W. Kern as I have known him for many years, they 
will believe, as I do, that he is in perfect harmony 
with the platform, and can be trusted to carry out 
that platform to the letter, if circumstances should 
place upon him the responsibility for its enforce- 
ment." 

Into his retreat at the Brown Palace the crowds 
thronged. The newspaper men with their cameras 
and note books appeared and the candidate, with his 
customary amiability, submitted to being cross-exam- 
ined as to the most intimate details of his life. The 
Denver Times was much impressed because Kern did 
not "talk in the Hoosier dialect" — a puzzle that was 
solved to its satisfaction by the discovery that his 
father was a Virginian and he, as a boy, had lived in 
Iowa. Other papers solemnly assured their readers 
that he was the original of "The Man From Home" 
of Booth Tarkington's creation. The nomination of 
Bryan having been a foregone conclusion, the vice- 
presidential nominee became the chief topic of con- 
versation, and that night Kern was being discussed 
almost exclusively by the politicians in hotel lobbies, 
cafes and upon the streets. An interview on the nom- 
ination by as astute an observer as Herbert Quick, 
of Iowa, gives as accurate an appraisement of the at- 



168 Life of John W. Kern 

mosphere in which it was made as can be found. 
"The nomination of Mr. Kern was widely favored," 
he said, "in my section of the middle west long before 
the convention. He is regarded as a man whose high 
character and place of residence would add strength 
to the ticket. He will not be regarded as an un- 
known or an accident. I watched the convention as 
it nominated Kern and mingled in the groups en- 
gaged in the preliminary discussions. No one was 
ever nominated in an atmosphere freer from dicker- 
ing and trading. The galleries were for Kern and 
the galleries have a curious faculty of feeling the 
national pulse." 

He remained in Denver for a time so as to reach 
Lincoln just in time for the meeting of the national 
committee at Fairview on July 14th, and during the 
interval was kept busy conferring with party lead- 
ers and with social engagements. I was with him on 
the train on the return trip as far as Lincoln and had 
an opportunity to note the effect the new celebrity 
had upon him. If anything, and if possible, he was 
even more democratic, genuinely democratic, in his 
manner, and a trifle subdued, as though he felt the 
responsibility that would fall to him in meeting his 
share of the burdens of the campaign. The night his 
party left Denver he stayed up late keeping his com- 
panions in mirthful mood with a seemingly intermi- 
nable string of stories gleaned from his own experi- 



Running with Bryan 169 

ences. It was on the train that he first had an oppor- 
tunity to read the Indianapolis papers and learn of 
the joy and jubilation of his friends and neighbors 
of both parties and of the plans of his old Kokomo 
friends to tender him a great reception. These things 
seemed to touch him more than the honor of the nom- 
ination. 

Again he reached Lincoln in the night, this time 
at three o'clock in the morning, but this time he was 
met by a delegation of citizens and taken to the hotel. 
Before he was up in the morning a large crowd was 
at the hotel to greet him, and for a time, as the press 
put it, "the town went Kern mad." 

About noon on the day of his arrival he went to 
Fairview on the car, receiving ovations along the 
way, and he remained at the home of Mr. Bryan 
through the afternoon meeting party leaders. Dur- 
ing that afternoon, too, in a campaign conference 
with Mr. Bryan, a plan was determined upon that 
was destined to make the Bryan and Kern campaign 
of 1908 memorable and of vital importance to the 
nation regardless of the result of the election, for it 
was then decided to pledge the party to giving pub-' 
licity to campaign contributions before the election, 
and to limit the amount that could be subscribed by 
any one party. 

On the following day when the members of the 
national committee had been called to order at Fair- 



170 Life of John W. Kern 

view, Mr. Bryan, when called upon, referring to Mr. 
Kern in the course of his brief speech, said: 

"I desire to express . . . my gratitude that a 
candidate for vice-president has been selected who is 
not only a political friend and a personal friend, but 
one in whom I have entire confidence (applause). 
I do not know how I can better express my feeling 
on the subject than to say that if I am elected presi- 
dent and Mr. Kern is elected vice-president, I shall 
not be afraid to die, because I shall feel that the 
policies outlined in the platform, which I shall en- 
deavor to put into operation, will be just as faith- 
fully carried out by him as they would be by me." 
(Applause.) 

Mr. Bryan then presented his history-making pro- 
posal which had been discussed by him with Mr. 
Kern the previous afternoon: 

"We suggest for your approval a maximum of 
$10,000 and a minimum of $100, no contribution to 
be received above $10,000 and all contributions above 
$100 to be made public before the election. 

"We suggest, also, that on or before the 15th day 
of October, publication shall be made of all contribu- 
tions above $100 received up to that date; that after 
the 15th of October publication shall be made of 
such contributions on the day that the same are re- 
ceived, and that no contribution above $100 shall be 
accepted within three days of the election. 



Running with Bryan 171 

'With the hope that these suggestions may be 
favorably acted upon, we are, with great respect, etc., 
"Yours truly, 
"William Jennings Bryan, 
"John W. Kern." 

Thus the first act of Mr. Kern as a candidate was to 
affix his signature to a proposal destined, after much 
controversy and sophisticated efforts to escape, to be 
written into the law of the land. After Mr. Kern 
had spoken briefly, a resolution embodying the ideas 
of the proposal was submitted by Josephus Daniels 
of North Carolina and unanimously adopted. His- 
tory was made at Fairview that afternoon. An issue 
of such vital moment was then made that it would 
not down. And the issue was all the more direct be- 
cause a Republican congress had just refused to en- 
act a publicity law, the Republican national con- 
vention had refused to incorporate in its platform a 
provision for one, and the announcement of the Fair- 
view plan was at first ridiculed by the reactionary 
press of the country. But the issue was so clear that 
it could not be scoffed from the boards. Mr. Taft 
tried to meet it by reforming on his original selec- 
tion of a treasurer of his campaign committee, and 
that, failing to satisfy the independent press, he tried 
to offset the Fairview program with a proposal of 
publicity of contributions after the election. This 



172 Life of John W. Kern 

was so manifestly absurd that it failed utterly to sat- 
isfy, notwithstanding President Roosevelt's remark- 
able advocacy of the proposal of Taft to lock the 
stable after the horse was stolen. The impression 
made by the plan outlined at the conference between 
Bryan and Kern at Fairview that afternoon was so 
pronounced that the popular demand for a law of 
that character persisted, and finally under the ad- 
ministration of Mr. Taft, who had opposed it, it was 
written into law at the behest of an overwhelming 
public opinion. That incident alone, aside from the 
platform, makes the Bryan-Kern campaign of 1908 
one of vital value to the institutions of America. 

On the evening of the day of the adoption of this 
resolution, Mr. Kern and his party turned their faces 
toward home — and here he was to partake of the 
sweets of his triumph. 

Ill 

Mr. Kern knew, through the press, that his friends 
and neighbors were taking the keenest delight in the 
honor that had been shown him. On the night of the 
nomination great crowds of cheering men, headed 
by a band, waving flags, burning red fire, and sing- 
ing patriotic songs, had been quickly improvised 
with the view to serenading the family of the can- 
didate. Stopping on the way to cheer in front of the 
Columbia club, the Republican organization, and to 




John H. Kern, Jk 



William C. Kekn 



Running with Bryan 173 

serenade the newspapers, it had gone rollicking to 
the Kern residence, where Mrs. Kern greeted the 
enthusiasts from the porch, and Judge Gavin had re- 
sponded in her behalf. Returning it paused at the 
home of Vice-President Fairbanks, who appeared 
and briefly paid tribute to Kern the man and neigh- 
bor. "There is no better man in the city of Indian- 
apolis or in the state of Indiana than John W. Kern," 
he said, and the crowd, with "three cheers for Fair- 
banks," passed on to pause again at the home of the 
venerable former Senator David Turpie, who was 
too feeble to appear but sent assurances of his par- 
ticipation in the common joy. The Indianapolis 
press, regardless of politics, editorially joined in the 
general jubilation. Four years before when a sim- 
ilar reception had been given Mr. Fairbanks, Mr. 
Kern had presided, and at that time the former had 
predicted that he would one day serve as chairman 
of such a meeting to greet Kern. The arrangements 
were made accordingly. 

There was something in this reception so signifi- 
cant of the affection of his fellow citizens, and some- 
thing in Mr. Kern's attitude toward it so character- 
istic of the man that it deserves more than a mere 
reference. When the train stopped to permit his 
party to alight at Capitol avenue he was met by a 
delegation representing the civic bodies of the com- 
munity, a large crowd of citizens, and a band play- 



174 Life of John W. Kern 

ing "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again," 
Vice-President Fairbanks was the first to grasp his 
hand. He was followed by Mayor Bookwalter, also 
a Republican, and the two escorted the nominee to his 
carriage. The procession moved through cheering 
crowds to where Mrs. Kern and the family were 
waiting to receive him. As the home of the nom- 
inee was approached the streets were packed, and 
houses of Democrats and Republicans alike were 
hung with bunting and brightened with flags, while 
a streamer stretched across the street announced a 
"Welcome by Your Neighbors." As Mr. Kern, bear- 
ing his two boys in his arms, ascended the steps of his 
home any one who knew the heart of the man could 
appreciate the emotions with which he faced his fel- 
low citizens. 

"Sometimes I can talk," he said to the crowd, "but 
this is not one of the times. On some other occasion 
I shall tell you all how glad I am to see you, but for 
reasons that must be obvious to you all I can not 
speak now." 

That evening it was the carriage of Vice-President 
Fairbanks that called to convey Mr. Kern to the 
court house yard, where a platform had been erected 
and where the formal home welcome was to be given. 
Here fully 15,000 people had assembled when Mr. 
Fairbanks assumed charge of the meeting. In the 
course of a generous address the vice-president re- 



Running with Bryan 175 

ferred to Kern's "ability as a lawyer, eminence as an 
orator, integrity as a man, uprightness as a neighbor, 
and admirable life within the sacred circle of home." 
Seldom has a more remarkable ovation ever been 
accorded any man within the confines of Indiana 
than that which greeted Mr. Kern when he rose to 
speak. For eleven minutes the thousands cheered 
and shouted, and the efforts of the recipient of the 
honor to still the tumult only seemed to give it im- 
petus. The speech of Mr. Kern on this occasion 
disclosed the inner man. 

"I am tired and somewhat travel worn tonight and 
I don't know that I can make myself heard to the 
uttermost limits of this vast audience. I am sure that 
I can find no words which will in any measure ex- 
press the emotions of my heart upon this occasion. 

"It is true, as has been said, a mark of distinction 
has been given me by the national convention of my 
party, and to that convention and the men it repre- 
sents I am deeply grateful, but I am more grateful to 
Almighty God for the friends He has given me in 
Indianapolis, regardless of political affiliation. I 
would be very much more or less than a man were I 
not deeply touched by this manifestation of your per- 
sonal friendship and confidence which I have wit- 
nessed from the time I alighted at the station this 
afternoon until the present hour. I may be defeated 
at the polls, but if so that is not a killing matter, be- 
cause I have become accustomed to that; but if I 
should go down in defeat in November, the memory 



176 Life of John W. Kern 

of what has occurred here tonight will amply repay 
me for whatever of toil may be my lot between now 
and then. 

"And the fact of this great assemblage attesting 
your loyalty and friendship to me I will bequeath to 
my children as a richer legacy than any on the face 
of the earth or all of the wealth of the world. . . . 

"How small is the man who will stop in campaign 
time, or any other time, to quarrel with his neighbor, 
because that neighbor, in his right of citizenship, 
dififers from him as to the best method of government. 
The true American feeling is manifest here tonight. 
Our children must play together in the years to 
come, whether they are Democrats or Republicans. 
They will inter-marry. They will rear families'. 
Their lots will be cast together; they will all be in- 
terested alike in promoting the welfare, the honor 
and the glory of this mighty republic, and this being 
so, why will we quarrel because they can not agree?" 

The Indianapolis News, politically antagonistic, 
editorially referred to "Mr. Kern's unusual gift of fe- 
licitous extemporaneous speech" in commenting upon 
his "altogether admirable speech." After a few days 
of much needed rest spent with his family at the 
home, the nominee turned to the preparation of 
briefs in supreme court cases during the next few 
weeks, with occasional political journeys, and some 
non-partisan addresses. Most enjoyable to him 
among the latter was his trip to Kokomo to receive 
the non-partisan homage of his "home folks." Here 



Running with Bryan 177 

he was forced to address a great throng from the 
hotel balcony before the exercises in the evening it 
the theater, where Judge Harness, a Republican, 
presided. Here he was greatly affected as he stood 
waiting for the ovation to end while the band played 
"Auld Lang Syne." And here, too, he made a heart 
speech, unmarred by a partisan note. In the latter 
part of July he attended a meeting of the national 
committee at Chicago when Norman Mack was 
chosen for the national chairmanship, and here he 
again conferred with Mr. Bryan. And on August 
1 1 he was the guest of Mr. Bryan at Fairview on the 
occasion of the latter's notification. Here he made a 
brief non-partisan address and conferred with the 
presidential nominee and Mr. Mack. Another non- 
partisan address at Indianola, Iowa, where he vis- 
ited his mother's grave, renewed boyhood friend- 
ships, and revisited the scenes of childhood, and a 
political speech at Milwaukee intervened before his 
formal notification at Indianapolis on August 25. • 
This was a great day in the history of the Hoosier 
Democracy. The faithful gathered from the four 
quarters, for not only was the Indiana leader, most 
beloved by the rank and file, to receive his formal 
notification, but Mr. Bryan, the idol of the same ele- 
ment, was to participate in the ceremonies. Indian- 
apolis was thronged. The day was ideal. In the 
morning before the exercises Mr. Bryan and Kern 



178 Life of John W. Kern 

received and conferred with party leaders from over 
the country, and met the members of the national 
committee and the notification committee, and all 
these sat down to a luncheon at the Denison hotel. 
The notification was made in the enormous coliseum 
at the state fair grounds, which seats 20,000 people. 
Hundreds of automobiles bearing the politicians 
dashed out Meridian street, and it required 500 street 
cars to carry the less favored. When Bryan and Kern 
entered the immense auditorium each was given an 
ovation from the vast audience. Theodore Bell, of 
California, chairman of the notification committee, 
charmed with his eloquent address of notification, 
and Mr. Kern, in accepting the nomination, took up 
the challenge thrown down by James S. Sherman, 
his Republican competitor, in his speech at Utica, 
N. Y., making a powerful presentation of the Demo- 
cratic case on the tariff, the trusts, and popular gov- 
ernment. That evening he and Mrs. Kern enter- 
tained the party celebrities at dinner at the Country 
club, and the great day was over. Mr. Kern was now 
the nominee for vice-president, and knew it. 

IV 

By the middle of September Mr. Kern's itinerary 
had been made out by the national committee and 
called for extensive campaigning, especially in the 
east and south. There had been rumblings through 



Running with Bryan 179 

the press of some apathy in the southern states, and 
while there was no danger of losing the electoral 
votes of this section, it was thought but the part of de- 
served courtesy to send the vice-presidential nominee 
through the south. The middle of September found 
him addressing a great throng at the state fair at 
Louisville, where he carefully refrained from any 
expression of a partisan nature; two days later he was 
in Chicago with Mr. Bryan, and on the 19th he be- 
gan his speaking tour of the south. This took him 
first into Maryland. It was while here that the un- 
fortunate Haskell episode, which occasioned such 
concern and embarrassment to leading Democrats, 
occurred. The charge that the treasurer of the Demo- 
cratic national committee had some sort of connec- 
tions with the Standard Oil Company, had been 
taken up by President Roosevelt with the view to 
convincing the people of the insincerity, if not dis- 
honesty, of the Democratic candidates in the matter 
of campaign contributions. There was enough fire 
to make much smoke with the careful handling of an 
astute politician like Mr. Roosevelt using his high 
office as a base of operations. The publicity-before- 
the-election policy of Bryan and Kern was causing 
Mr. Taft and Mr. Roosevelt no end of trouble, and 
the attempt of the former, strangely backed by the 
latter, to convince the people that a program of pub- 
licity-after-the-election would do quite as well was 



180 Life of John W. Kern 

not making a favorable impression. Thus the Has- 
kell incident was worked to the limit of its possibili- 
ties. At Elliott City, Md., Mr. Kern took notice of 
the president's contribution to the campaign con- 
cerning the Haskell matter, charging him with using 
it in an effort to muddy the waters, and ridiculing his 
pretensions as a reformer. From Maryland he was 
forced to jump to Mansfield, Ohio, to formally open 
the campaign in that state with former Gov. James 
E. Campbell, where he discussed the tariff and trusts 
and facetiously referred to the Foraker-Taft-Roose- 
velt Kilkenny cat fight. Five days later he met his 
opponent for the first time at the Auditorium Annex 
in Chicago. Learning that Mr. Sherman was in the 
hotel, he expressed a desire to Senator Smith, of 
Michigan, to meet him. The senator called the Re- 
publican nominee from his room and the meeting 
took place in the lobby, to the delight of the news- 
paper men. This was the beginning of a warm per- 
sonal friendship between two men whose political 
opinions were as divergent as it was possible for them 
to be. 

From Chicago Mr. Kern plunged into the south, 
making his first speeches in Alabama. All the Kern 
meetings in the south were remarkable demonstra- 
tions. His meeting at Birmingham was a huge suc- 
cess. On his way from this industrial capital of 
Alabama to Atlanta he spoke for ten minutes to the 



Running with Bryan 181 

mill hands at Anniston. These were the men to 
whom he made a strong appeal. 

At Macon, Ga., when his train drew into the sta- 
tion he found a cheering crowd to greet him and the 
meeting in the evening was one of the most rousing 
he addressed during the campaign. Here he took 
occasion to reply vigorously to ^ the attacks of Mr. 
Bryan's enemies on the ground that he was "unsafe." 

His meeting at Asheville, N. C, in early October, 
was one of the stirring old-fashioned sort, the great- 
est political meeting that had been held there since 
1896. A picturesque touch was given to this demon- 
stration by several hundred mountaineers riding into 
town from miles around on mules. Here he was in- 
troduced by former Governor Glenn and followed by 
the brilliant James Hamilton Lewis. 

Having in two weeks spoken in Maryland, Ala- 
bama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, 
he closed this part of his canvass, hoarse from a cold 
and from over-use of the voice at a great meeting at 
Huntington, W. Va., on October 10, and on the fol- 
lowing day he reached his home in Indianapolis. 

Here a great trouble awaited him. John Kern, Jr., 
had been stricken with that most distressing of mala- 
dies, infantile paralysis. During the next three days 
the candidate spent every moment possible at the bed- 
side of his stricken boy, but the 14th of October found 
him engaged in strenuous campaigning in New Jer- 



182 Life of John W. Kern 

sey. In the afternoon he spoke to the business men 
in Elizabeth, and at night to two remarkable meet- 
ings at Newark and Jersey City. At the former 
meeting the meeting was preceded by an old-fash- 
ioned parade with marching clubs, and the faithful 
in automobiles, the streets aglare from the red lights 
carried by the marchers, and by occasional bonfires 
along the streets. From Newark he was hurried to 
Jersey City, where he was greeted with a great crowd 
at Phcenix hall. It was at this latter meeting that he 
attacked the source of some great fortunes. Refer- 
ring to the comment of Judge Taf t that one way to re- 
duce swollen fortunes would be for the possessors to 
give generously, Kern said that "Judge Taft advo- 
cates the pillaging of the people and trusting to the 
generosity of the pillager to pay back some of the 
ill-gotten riches." 

On the following day the candidate spoke at Tam- 
many Hall in New York city, where his entrance was 
the signal for an ovation which was repeated a mo- 
ment later when Lieutenant-Governor Chandler, the 
nominee for governor, ascended the platform and 
clasped the hand of the vice-presidential nominee. 
Mr. Kern's speech here in the great financial center 
of the country was significant of his unwillingness to 
in any way compromise on his progressive principles 
for the possible effect in New York city. 

In all his speeches on his eastern tour Mr. Kern 



Running with Bryan 183 

made a special plea to the laboring classes, for upon 
these he predicated his sole hope of carrying New 
York, New Jersey or Connecticut. At Bridgeport, 
Conn., he addressed his remarks exclusively to these. 
On the 19th of October he went to Utica, the home 
city of Mr. Sherman, his Republican opponent. 
Here, to his surprise, he was given one of the most 
remarkable welcomes of his tour. Knowing of Mr. 
Sherman's wonderful hold on the affections of his fel- 
low citizens he was startled at the warmth of the 
greeting until he learned that his opponent had wired 
a request to his own followers to join in the general 
welcome. As he stepped upon the platform to face a 
great audience he was handed a personal telegram of 
welcome from Sherman, then touring the west. This 
was a touch that Kern could appreciate, for it 
smacked of himself, and his opening remarks were in 
a happy vein as he referred to the incident. His 
speech here was an attack upon the great trusts and on 
swollen fortunes made possible by special legislation. 
It was here he said that "the spending on one dinner 
by the ultra-rich of sufficient to feed a million starv- 
ing men is doing more to foster socialism and an- 
archism than all the socialistic and anarchistic prop- 
aganda." 

. If Utica was to be remembered by him as the scene 
of a pleasing act of chivalric courtesy, it was also to 
be associated with the most painful shock of the cam- 



184 Life of John W. Kern 

paign. It was here that a telegram reached him an- 
nouncing the serious condition of young John and 
summoning him to the bedside. He immediately 
canceled all engagements and left for Indianapolis. 
Reaching home in the early morning, worn with 
fatigue of travel and speaking, he took up his vigil by 
the sick boy's bed, scarcely leaving his side. The 
next few days found the vice-presidential nominee 
in the sick room. On October 26th he arranged to 
keep in constant touch with his home, and left for 
a week of strenuous campaigning in Indiana. By 
using steam train, interurbans and automobiles he 
was able to cover the state from the river to the lake 
making many speeches each day. On the Friday 
night before the election he spoke to the people of 
Indianapolis at a great meeting at Tomlinson hall. 
During the days immediately preceding Andrew 
Carnegie had gravely announced his adherence to the 
cause of Taft and Protection, and this announcement, 
which was unnecessary, was followed by one equally 
unnecessary from John D. Rockefeller to the same 
efifect. These announcements appealed to Mr. Kern's 
sense of humor, and he discussed them with biting 
sarcasm. 

Mr. Kern's close of his Indiana campaign at 
Evansville on Saturday night was not to mark the 
end of his labors. On the insistence of the national 
committee he was hurried into northern Ohio for a 



Running with Bryan 185 

number of speeches on the day before the election, 
and after a meteoric rush through numerous towns 
he spoke his last word at night at an important meet- 
ing at Toledo. 

But as he turned toward home that night it was 
not of the battle of ballots on the morrow that he was 
thinking. 

V 

It was a sad group that gathered in the Kern li- 
brary the night of the election. The returns were 
not the cause nor did they create much interest for 
the immediate family, which was alone; they were 
more intent on the news that the doctors and nurse 
were bringing from the room above where John, Jr., 
was fighting what then seemed to be a hopeless bat- 
tle. He was not expected to live through the night. 
The fact that the little warrior's mind was keen and 
alert that night only added a poignancy to the pathos. 
He won his battle; and on the morning after when 
Mrs. Kern entered the room the little fellow looked 
up anxiously: 

"Mother, was father elected?" 

Mrs. Kern hesitated a moment and then told the 
truth : 

"No, John, your father was defeated." 

The boy closed his eyes tight and with the bitter- 
ness of childhood exclaimed: 



186 Life or John W. Kern 

"Uh! What fools the people of the United States 
are to turn down such a man as father." 

Later on, when the boy was on the road to ulti- 
mate recovery, this remark, rather pathetic at the 
time, took on a humorous side; and when two years 
later Vice-President Sherman was in Indianapolis 
and called at the Kern home the story was told for 
his amusement. To the surprise of every one the 
amusing feature of the story did not appeal to him. 
His eyes filled up, and tenderly placing his hand on 
the head of the boy, still crippled, he said gravely: 

"My boy, the more I have seen of your father and 
the better I know him the more I am inclined to think 
you were right." 

This incident, so expressive of the sweetness and 
tenderness of Mr. Sherman, added to many other 
manifestations of his chivalry, endeared him to Mr. 
Kern. While no two men could possibly have dif- 
fered more widely on almost every phase of public 
policy, a personal affection sprang up between them 
which lasted through the life of both. During the 
campaign the chivalry of Mr. Sherman was not con- 
fined to urging his supporters to give his opponent a 
royal welcome to Utica, nor to the personal telegram 
of greeting that was handed Mr. Kern that night on 
the platform. When the announcement went out 
from that city that the Democratic nominee had been 
summoned home by the serious illness of his boy, he 



Running with Bryan 187 

had scarcely turned homeward when another tele- 
gram reached him from Mr. Sherman expressing 
his sympathy in tenderest phrasing. And when dur- 
ing the last week of the campaign a vicious personal 
attack was made on Kern by a New York paper, even 
before he had heard of it, his Republican opponent 
wired him of his personal disgust. When two years 
later Mr. Kern entered the Senate and had been 
sworn in, before he could reach his seat a page over- 
took him with a request from the vice-president for 
him to take the chair. And these instances of the 
beautiful chivalry of "Jin^" Sherman might be multi- 
plied. When the vice-president died Mr. Kern was 
one of the senators chosen to pay tribute to his mem- 
ory at the impressive services in the Senate chamber 
attended by the president and his cabinet, the justices 
of the supreme court, the members of the House, and 
the diplomatic corps. The address he made on this 
occasion is the only one he delivered during his sena- 
torial career in which he took special pride. He put 
his heart into it, for, like so many others who differed 
with him radically in politics, he had learned to love 
the man who defeated him for the vice-presidency 
in 1908. 



CHAPTER X 

Battles for the Senate 
I 

THE seventeen months following the election 
of 1908 were to bring to Mr. Kern the most 
bitter disappointment and the most gratifying tri- 
umph of his career. While Indiana had been lost 
to the national ticket by a comparatively small ma- 
jority, local conditions, and the remarkably attractive 
campaign of Thomas R. Marshall, the gubernatorial 
nominee, had resulted in the election of a Demo- 
cratic governor and legislature. And the majority 
in the legislature meant the election of a Democratic 
United States senator. As a result, the polls had 
scarcely closed in Indiana when the state found itself 
engaged in another spirited contest to determine 
which of the Democratic aspirants should be sent to 
Washington. In quick succession these men ap- 
peared upon the scene with their organizations and 
pretensions. It was the general assumption of the 
masses of the party that Mr. Kern, who had sacri- 
ficed himself to the party in 1900, in 1904 and again 
in 1908, and v/hose association upon the ticket with 
Mr. Bryan, the popular idol of the Indiana Democ- 
racy, carried with it that leader's following, would 
enter upon his reward. 



Battles for the Senate 189 

But this assumption was not to go unchallenged. 
To thoroughly understand the situation it is neces- 
sary to know something of the character of the cam- 
paign which had resulted in a Democratic triumph. 
It had hinged upon the periodic issue of liquor legis- 
lation forced upon the politicians by the action of 
Governor Hanly in compelling the Republican state 
convention to declare in favor of county option. This 
action had been met by the Democrats taking a stand 
in favor of ward and township option, and the issue 
had been accentuated by the move of Governor 
Hanly, in defiance of the appeals and threats of his 
fellow Republicans, in calling a special session of 
the legislature in the fall and forcing the county op- 
tion law upon the statutes before^the voters had an 
opportunity to register their verdict. The so-called 
liberal element lined up aggressively with the Demo- 
crats and with its powerful organization, with rami- 
fications into every community, contributed much to 
the result. At any rate it took to itself the triumph. 
And this explains the element of uncertainty precipi- 
tated into the senatorial situation — the liberal ele- 
ment was opposed to Mr. Kern. 

Among the men who offered themselves as candi- 
dates were several who had richly earned a reward 
from the party. Chief of these was Benjamin F. 
Shively, who had distinguished himself in early 
manhood by a brilliant career in the house of repre- 



190 Life of John W. Kern 

sentatives, and had endeared himself to thousands 
by his gallant fight in 1896, when he led the party 
as its nominee for governor. A man of imposing 
presence, extraordinary intellectual equipment and 
impressive eloquence, he measured up to the high 
senatorial traditions of the party in the state of Hen- 
dricks, Voorhees, McDonald and Turpie. And in 
addition to that he was the favorite of the liberal 
element that claimed the credit for the victory. 

Another aspirant was John E. Lamb, who had 
begun a career of exceptional promise as a member 
of the house of representatives before he was thirty, 
had maintained the reputation then made through 
years of brilliant service on the stump, and had, upon 
the personal request of Mr. Bryan, taken charge of 
the western headquarters in the campaign of 1908. 
Major G. V. Menzies, who had behind him a long 
career of efifective party service, L. Ert Slack, about 
whom the radical temperance forces rallied, and 
E. G. Hoffman, a young man, then comparatively 
little known but backed with the prestige of the or- 
ganization that had nominated Marshall for gov- 
ernor, completed the list. 

While the various candidates and their organiza- 
tions made the customary claims, it was generally 
thought throughout the state among party men of the 
rank and file that the recent nominee for vice-presi- 
dent would have an easy triumph, previous to the 



Battles for the Senate 191 

appearance of the politicians in Indianapolis. It was 
the contention of Mr. Shively's supporters that since 
Kern had chosen the vice-presidency and their can- 
didate had confined himself to the senatorial cam- 
paign the state victory warranted him in insisting 
upon the fruit of the triumph; and Mr. Lamb's 
friends were equally insistent upon the claim that 
his management of the western campaign for the 
party gave him a clear right to the honor; while the 
others rested their cases upon the ground that any 
good party man had a right to aspire to the senator- 
ship. Notwithstanding all these conflicting claims 
the prevalent impression over the state was that Kern 
would be selected. Until the politicians moved on 
Indianapolis, two weeks before the caucus, there was 
not the shadow of a doubt in the mind of Mr. Kern 
as to his election. 

Seldom in the political history of Indiana have 
more animated scenes been witnessed than those that 
were staged about the Denison Hotel in Indianapolis 
during the two weeks preceding the contest in caucus. 
Headquarters were opened early by all but Kern, 
who persisted in the folly that his election was as- 
sured by popular mandate. Delegations of local ad- 
mirers of candidates flocked from all sections. The 
cafe, in those days a place of frolic and folly, was 
packed until the small hours of the morning with 
wire-pulling politicians. All the candidates had per- 



192 Life of John W. Keen 

fected excellent organizations of practical political 
manipulators of men — all save Kern, who relied on 
popular opinion. The result was numerous inter- 
changes of views between the various camps, at- 
tempts at bargaining, and all tending to the crystal- 
lization of one opinion — that Kern was the man to 
beat. Thus his advantage proved his weakness. He 
was not, however, to be permitted to drift without a 
warning. Within twenty-four hours after reaching 
the scene of battle Mr. Lamb, as perspicacious a poli- 
tician as the state has produced, accurately sensed 
the situation and realized that the efforts of power- 
ful elements were being directed primarily toward 
undermining the prospects of the Indianapolis candi- 
date. He did not underestimate the resources of these 
elements and was convinced that the salvation of 
Kern depended upon an open ballot to the end that 
the force of opinion might be brought to bear upon 
the legislators. With this in view he early impor- 
tuned Kern to take a determined stand against a 
secret caucus, and lead ofif himself with a declaration 
in favor of a vote in the open. On the following day 
Kern was said by the press to favor an open ballot 
— but he made no statement. And when, on the day 
following, the press reported "Kern stock booming," 
with thirty-five votes certain on the first ballot, he 
permitted himself to be lulled into a sense of security. 
It was almost a week after Lamb had taken his stand 



Battles for the Senate 193 

and but two days before the date for the caucus that 
Kern was forced by unmistakable developments to 
a realization of his danger, and he gave out a state- 
ment to the effect that the people had a right to know 
how their representatives voted. 

It was on the day of the caucus that the trend of 
events began to develop into meaning to the spec- 
tator. Members of the legislature were actually 
quoted in The Indianapolis News as saying that they 
"did not intend to tell any one how they voted." And 
that same evening the common talk about the hotel 
lobby was of combinations against Kern, with all the 
other candidates posing as the logical beneficiary of 
the combine. 

When, accompanied by Oscar Henderson and 
Michael A. Ryan, Mr. Kern reached the state house 
on the night of the caucus and took up his quarters 
in the rooms of the lieutenant governor it was with a 
full realization of his danger. He knew that the votes 
would be delivered in the dark, and he suspected that 
with the exception of Lamb the other candidates 
were in league against him. Almost exhausted, he 
lay down upon a couch for an hour, too tired to talk, 
merely nodding his head in reply to questions. Dur- 
ing the balloting the scenes about the state house were 
exciting enough and not a little disgraceful. Mem- 
bers emerging from the room were followed like 
prisoners by attaches of the legislature in an effort 



194 Life of John W. Kern 

to prevent them from conversing, an^ one of these 
narrowly escaped a caning at the hands of Lamb 
when he poked his head over the candidate's shoulder 
in an effort to hear what he was saying to the senator 
from his own county, who was acting as his floor 
manager. It required twenty ballots to elect, but the 
first ballot sounded the knell of Kern's hopes. Where 
he had hoped for more than thirty votes he received 
but twenty-five, although the combined strength of 
the two next highest, Shively and Lamb only sur- 
passed it by one vote. The second ballot was sig- 
nificant with two desertions — at a time when there 
could be but one explanation for such desertions, and 
that plain treachery. On the third ballot, when Lamb 
went to him, he received thirty-four votes, but in- 
stead of starting a rush in his direction he fell to 
twenty-eight on the next ballot — showing that men 
playing the cat and mouse act with him had taken 
flight. At lo o'clock Kern rose from the couch and 
paced the corridors smoking, his hands in his side 
pockets, and on the announcement of the fifth ballot 
he said "It's all over." From that time on it was a 
case of hoping against hope. As the contest narrowed 
to Kern and Shively efforts were made to persuade 
some of the losing candidates to throw their support 
to Kern, but their attitude clearly disclosed in the 
case of the men approached that he was the one man 
they would not benefit if they could help it. At 



Battles for the Senate 195 

2 A. M. the door to the caucus room flew open — 
Shively had been elected, the final vote giving him 
42 to Kern's 36. 

That was the darkest night in Kern's career. 

Through years of sacrifice he had reached — this. 
He went home that night more completely crushed 
than he ever was before or after. 

But over at the hotel a group of politicians cele- 
brated throughout the night, not so much over Shive- 
ly's election as over Kern's defeat. But the next 
morning threw a different light on things. A wave 
of bitter resentment against the secret caucus swept 
over the state and legislators were being called to an 
accounting. The roll call by the various constitu- 
encies of the state during the next few days disclosed 
that Kern still had the majority of eight he had fig- 
ured on. It was a period of alibis. Irate members 
under suspicion of treachery furiously announced 
through the press that they were "ready to lick any 
man who says I did not vote for Kern." The Indian- 
apolis News editorially expressed the prevalent opin- 
ion when it said — "We think that Mr. Kern suffered 
from the secret ballot, for this deprived him of the 
weight of the popular indorsement which was clearly 
his, and which would have had full play had there 
been an open ballot." The event attracted attention 
all over the country and within twenty-four hours 
Representative Charles B. Landis, from Washing- 



196 Life of John W. Kern 

ton, made the prophetic prediction that this particu- 
lar secret caucus would result in a direct primary 
"or something of the sort." 

With Kern it was accepted as the end of a political 
career, and he turned again, now sixty years of age, 
to the practice of his profession. About this time he 
received a letter from James B. Morrow, the well- 
known Washington journalist, to the effect that he 
would soon be passing through Indianapolis and 
would stop over in the hope of having a talk with 
him concerning his early struggles, with the view to 
writing a special feature article. Mr. Kern replied 
that he would be glad to see him. It was several 
months before he appeared. The night he reached 
Indianapolis Kern received him in his office and 
after relating the story of his early struggles he sat 
until a late hour with the journalist exchanging 
stories and reminiscences of public men. During the 
whole of this time not a word was said about the sen- 
atorial election. At length as they were preparing 
to leave and Morrow was helping Kern on with his 
overcoat, the former remarked that in the east they 
had expected to see Kern in the senate. With a 
whimsical smile Kern replied that he too had ex- 
pected it, but that "they got eight of them away from 
me." On being asked who he meant by "they" he re- 
plied — "The brewery crowd." It was not the under- 
standing of Kern that this was part of the interview, 



Battles for the Senate 197 

but Morrow, with the keen nose for the important, 
incorporated it in his story. In doing so he did not 
employ the exact words used — but the sense was the 
same. The difference was due to the cold type. That 
interview was to pursue him as long as he lived. He 
might have escaped some embarrassment by giving 
the lie to the newspaper man — a favorite method of 
most politicians. But Kern knew that Morrow wrote 
sincerely and with no evil intentions and it was so 
nearly exact that he accepted it. Two years later, 
after his election to the senate, Morrow entered the 
office of Kern in Washington and asked to see him. 
"I want to thank him, congratulate him, and apolo- 
gize to him. I wrote an interview with him once 
that must have caused him considerable annoyance. 
In years of experience as a newspaper man he is the 
first man, thus confronted with an interview that 
caused annoyance that did not repudiate the inter- 
view and put the lie on the correspondent. He did 
not — and he stood the gaff. I want to apologize for 
unintentionally causing him annoyance, thank him 
for not giving me the lie, and congratulate him on 
being a man." 

That interview was perhaps the most famous ever 
given by a public man in Indiana. 

II 
Kern quickly recovered from his disappointment 
and turned to his profession with the determination 



198 Life of John W. Kern 

to put politics behind him forever and devote the 
remainder of his life to making money for his family. 
He had sacrificed much to politics, and at the age of 
sixty wa.s a poor man. But he had an excellent prac- 
tice and could look forward with confidence to sev- 
eral years of active work. While too ardently at- 
tached to the principles of his party to fail in party 
service when occasion called he considered his office- 
seeking days as over and his family rejoiced in his 
retirement. 

As the campaign of 1910 approached with another 
United States senator to be elected, Governor Mar- 
shall startled the stationary politicians with a state- 
ment in advocacy of the nomination of a senator in 
the state convention. This was one of the fruits of 
the secret caucus of the spring of 1909. At first there 
was a disposition to treat the suggestion with levity, 
but it appealed so strongly to the rank and file that 
the old-line politicians finally felt compelled to take 
an aggressive stand against it. And the fight was on. 
The governor merely stood firmly on his statement, 
taking the position that it would not be becoming in 
him to take the stump in its behalf, but his personal 
popularity carried it far. And when almost immedi- 
ately many veteran politicians such as John E. Lamb 
put on the armor in its behalf the fight became pic- 
turesque and exciting. There has probably never 



Battles for the Senate 199 

been a more dramatic political convention in Indiana 
than that which met in Tomlinson Hall in the spring 
of 1910. We need not go into details concerning the 
preliminary work of the convention culminating in 
the triumph of the "governor's plan." With this 
phase of the convention Mr. Kern had nothing to do. 
He occupied a seat with the Marion county delega- 
tion — one of the rank and file. After the vote on the 
plan he left the hall and was absent when the names 
of various candidates for the senatorial nomination 
were presented. He had a premonition that his name 
might be urged upon the delegates and had taken 
steps, as he thought, to prevent any such movement. 
Hearing that the delegations from Howard and 
Clinton counties had announced their intention of 
supporting him, he had personally protested and felt 
that he had accomplished his purpose. He did not 
know that a few farmer delegates from the Indian- 
apolis delegation could start a storm. Returning to 
the convention while the first ballot was in progress 
he found that his name was before the convention. 
"When I entered the hall," he said afterward, "sev- 
eral men yelled 'Stand pat, John,' and I didn't know 
what to do for an instant. I thought, however that 
the manly thing to do was to make a statement to the 
convention and I stood on a chair and told them that 
my name had been presented without my knowledge 



200 Life of John W. Kern 

or consent, and that no man had any right or author- 
ity to present my name and that I was not in any 
sense a candidate." 

The moment he concluded Wabash county was 
called and cast 15 out of its 16 votes for him, and 
Wayne county followed with its 26 votes — the solid 
delegation. 

When his name had been first presented there was 
a tremendous ovation and cries of "Kern," "Kern" 
drowned all other noises. In a box in the balcony an 
interesting little drama was enacted. Mrs. Marshall, 
wife of the governor, was entertaining several ladies, 
including Mrs. Kern and Meredith Nicholson, the 
novelist. When Kern's name was presented and the 
demonstration began, Mrs. Kern, frankly elated at 
the rare honor being shown her husband, insisted 
that he vv'ould not accept. This was received with 
incredulity by the others present. The subject had 
been thoroughly threshed out about the family hearth 
and she knew. Nicholson scouted the idea that he 
would decline — a preposterous idea! When Kern 
appeared, his coat almost torn from him by frantic 
friends trying to hold him back, and mounted the 
chair and rebuked his friends, the novelist, amazed, 
exclaimed — "That man's not human." But that was 
not to be his final effort. The first ballot ended with 
Kern far in the lead with 303 votes, only six of these 
from Marion county, the other 177 having been cast 



Battles for the Senate 201 

for Thomas Taggart. On the second ballot Taggart 
withdrew his name and cast the solid vote of the 
delegation for Kern, and the roll call ended found 
him with 647 votes. 

It was then, with the nomination within his grasp, 
that Kern made his supreme effort to put aside the 
crown. This time he took the platform and the con- 
vention heard him with impatience, and with a con- 
siderable show of feeling he protested against the 
right of the delegates to force upon him something 
he had renounced. When he said that it had been 
intimated that he had been masquerading in the mat- 
ter he was greeted with shouts of "No, no," "Sit 
down" and "You can't refuse." 

Leaving the hall on the conclusion of his speech 
he went to his law office and began work on a case. 
It was while thus engaged, and after Lamb had also 
withdrawn in his favor, that the stenographer, an- 
swering the telephone, turned to him in surprise with 
the exclamation — "Why, Mr. Kern, you have just 
been nominated for the senate." 

His first inclination was to refuse the nomination. 
But the fact that it was so manifestly the spontaneous 
will of the party and the urgent insistence of the 
avowed candidates that he face a duty finally per- 
suaded him against his will. Almost in a flash all his 
plans for a peaceful life in the practice of his pro- 
fession were ruins at his feet, and he again, as so 



202 Life of John W. Kern 

many times before, put on the armor and prepared 

for battle. 

Ill 

The senatorial campaign in Indiana in 1910 was 
unique in the political history of the state. Senator 
Albert J. Beveridge was the nominee of the Repub- 
lican party for re-election, although his position 
with his own party was precariously insecure. He 
had entered public life as an aggressive and brilliant 
exponent of the more pronounced Hamiltonian theo- 
ries, and had been a consistent champion of Big Busi- 
ness, an audacious defender and eulogist of the trust, 
an eloquent advocate of the protective tarifif, and in 
other ways, viewed from the Democratic viewpoint, 
a peculiarly advanced and defiant reactionary. But 
he had rebelled against the Aldrich senatorial ma- 
chine when it threw even discretion in the winds in 
its arrogant determination to force the Payne- 
Aldrich tarifif bill upon the country, and had joined 
DoUiver, Cummins, Bristow, Clapp and LafoUette 
in the fight against it. This he had done with his 
usual brilliancy and eloquence, and he had thus in- 
curred the deadly enmity of the reactionary element 
of his party in the state. Unhappily for him this was 
the predominant element. Flis one hope under the 
circumstances was that his courageous act of rebel- 
lion would rally to his support the progressive ele- 
ment of the Democratic party and thus make up for 



Battles for the Senate 203 

any loss from the Republicans. This plan, however, 
contemplated the creation of the impression among 
the progressives that the election of a Democratic 
legislature would result in the election of a reaction- 
ary to the senate, and his supporters had two or three 
men in mind to hold forth to the people as likely 
beneficiaries of a Democratic victory. The action of 
the state convention in nominating a candidate over- 
threw all these well-laid plans. The nomination of 
Kern, nationally known as a progressive, was the last 
straw. Little wonder that Senator Beveridge, in 
writing to Governor Marshall after the adoption of 
"the governor's plan," said "You have broken my 
heart." But thus handicapped he prepared to con- 
test every inch of the ground, and no man has ever 
made a more thorough and brilliant campaign. 

Kern opened the campaign in a strong speech at 
Evansville on October ist. It was a powerful presen- 
tation of the issues involved in the unique campaign 
in which a Republican senator was appealing for 
support on the strength of his repudiation of the 
policies of his party while urging the retention of 
that party in power. The action of Beveridge in 
voting for the ship subsidy bill and against the in- 
come tax was used with deadly effect, as was the in- 
sistence of some of the senator's friends, such as 
Charles G. Sefrit, of The JVashington Herald, that 
had the vote of the senator been necessary to the pas- 



204 Life of John W. Kern 

sage of the Payne-Aldrich bill he would have sup- 
ported it. All his references to his opponent were 
directed by Mr. Kern to an effort to compromise his 
position as a contender for the progressive vote, and 
the senator had been too intimately indentified with 
Republican policies to make this difficult. The last 
half of his speech was consumed in a denunciation of 
the extravagant expenditures by Republican con- 
gresses and the misuse of the taxing power. 

The speech was considered extraordinarily adroit 
and forceful. The Indianapolis News, a Republican 
paper, never friendly to the senator, in an editorial 
analysis of Mr. Kern's discussion of the senator's pro- 
gressive pretentions, managed to insinuate an interro- 
gation of its own and concluded by saying: "What 
Mr. Kern had to say of governmental extravagance 
was well said. He argued that extravagance and 
protection are related to each other, that protection 
is itself extravagance. On the whole Mr. Kern's 
speech is a strong and fair statement of the Demo- 
cratic position. This is manifestly a campaign in 
which the speakers on both sides are going to deal 
with real things and real issues. The truth is that 
the people are tired of the old buncombe, a fact 
which the campaigners evidently appreciate. The 
question in Indiana is whether the people will be- 
lieve that the insurgents are strong enough to change 
the course of their party, which they admit to have 



Battles for the Senate 205 

been wrong, and to free it from influences that have 
long dominated it, which they confess to be abhor- 
rent. And that is a question which each man must 
answer for himself, with the help of such informa- 
tion as he may be able to get. It gives us pleasure to 
commend the speech of Mr. Kern as a straight- 
forward and manly presentation of the Democratic 
case." 

Mr. Bryan telegraphed: "Your speech was a pow- 
erful statement and much stronger both in substance 
and manner to that of your opponent." 

During the next month Mr. Kern was constantly 
on the stump, speaking afternoon and night, accom- 
panied usually by correspondents of Indianapolis 
papers upon whom the personality of the candidate 
made an agreeable impression, if we are to judge by 
the tone of their articles. In this way his speeches 
were given the widest possible publicity. As the cam- 
paign progressed his reiterated questionings of Sen- 
ator Beveridge's position as a progressive led the 
latter to taking a more advanced position than in the 
beginning, and this served to further embitter the 
Republican reactionaries. In speech after speech 
Kern dwelt upon the senator's vote in favor of a 
ship subsidy until toward the close of the cam- 
paign Mr. Beveridge was forced to pledge him- 
self against a similar performance. Never, per- 
haps, has Senator Beveridge been more eloquent, 



208 Life of John W. Kern 

more daring and dashing than in the campaign 
of 1910. He preferred to look upon his role as 
that of a crusader, and he did smite the reaction- 
aries hip and thigh. As the heat of the battle in- 
creased this crusading feature was emphasized until 
the sentimental reached a climax in the declaration 
of Fred Landis, an orator noted for his quaint hu- 
mor, that Beveridge, holding the plutocrats at bay, 
was standing for "Mary of the vine-clad cottage." 
This symbolizing of the humble lot was instantly 
seized upon by the senator's crusading friends, and 
even the senator adopted "Mary," until Kern turned 
it into ridicule in a speech at Decatur which caused 
a roar of laughter from river to lake. In satire and 
ridicule Kern had no equal in the state, and he used 
his weapons on occasions with much effectiveness. 
His satire on Mary was copied in The New York 
Sun, and as long as the present generation lingers on 
the stage "Mary of the vine-clad cottage" will bring 
a smile. 

The two candidates, while strenuously engaged on 
the stump themselves, had some outside assistance. 
Mr. Roosevelt swept across northern Indiana in be- 
half of Beveridge, but some unpleasantness of a mys- 
terious nature diverted popular discussion from what 
he said to the fact that he refused to leave his car to 
address a great throng at Richmond. The two former 
presidential nominees of the Democratic party, and 



Battles for the Senate 207 

both personal friends, Alton B. Parker and Mr. 
Bryan entered the state in behalf of Mr. Kern. In 
his speech at Indianapolis the middle of October 
Judge Parker told his hearers that in the senate "we 
shall need the common sense, the sturdy honesty and 
eloquence of John W. Kern." And about the same 
time Bryan was sweeping over the state in a char- 
acteristic whirlwind of oratory, addressing a dozen 
audiences a day and everywhere making a special 
plea for the election of Kern. 

Thus in the struggle for the progressive vote the 
advantage was all with Kern. There was no possible 
reason why any progressive of the Democratic party 
should vote against Kern, and while the Republican 
progressives were intensely loyal to Beveridge they 
were in the minority, and the Republican reaction- 
aries were bent upon the destruction of the man who 
had refused to bend beneath the Aldrich lash. It is 
doubtful if any man has ever been the victim of 
greater treachery than Beveridge in 19 lo. There was 
scarcely a community where the Republican poli- 
ticians were not whetting their knives for his slaugh- 
ter. The result was easily foreseen and the Demo- 
crats carried the legislature. 

The peculiarly venomous and unscrupulous nature 
of Kern's enemies was disclosed after the election by 
the suggestion that the legislature might not feel 
bound by the action of the state convention on the 



208 Life of John W. Kern 

senatorship. This, of course, did not get very far. 
The mere suggestion damned itself, and the leaders 
alarmed, denounced the idea of such treachery. Gov- 
ernor Marshall made it clear that he would not sign 
the commission of any man but that of the man for 
whom the majority of the people had voted. There 
was probably never the least danger from any such 
suggestion. Mr. Kern took no stock in the fears of 
many of his friends, and the event vindicated his 
confidence. When the legislature met he was 
promptly elected. Any other result would have 
wrecked the Democratic party for a generation. 

Thus after thirty-eight years of service and sacri- 
fice he entered into his reward in the realization of 
the ambition of his life. 



CHAPTER XI 

Kern's First Congress 
I 

SENATOR KERN entered the senate at a time 
when the dawn for the Democracy was breaking 
in the east; the long night of wandering in the wil- 
derness was over and the day had come. In the op- 
posite end of the capitol, the Democrats, with a tri- 
umphant majority, had made possible the election 
to the speakership of Champ Clark, one of the most 
uncompromising of Democrats and one of the most 
picturesque floor leaders that any party had ever had 
in the house. The Payne-Aldrich tariff bill had 
wrought such havoc that many of the old familiar 
figures of the congress had been swept into private 
life by the flood of popular indignation. The bitter 
fight that had been made by the Republican rebels 
in the senate against the iniquities of the tariff meas- 
ure had left a once militant party in a state of de- 
moralization, born of mutual distrust a desire for 
vengeance. There were no longer two parties in the 
senate — there were three, and the two of these 
counted as Republican were more bitter against each 
other than against the common enemy across the 
aisle. This was to be impressively disclosed early 
in the session, when the death of the venerable Fry 



210 Life of John W. Kern 

of Maine necessitated the election of a president pro 
tempore and the Republicans with their numerical 
advantage were unable to muster a majority for Sen- 
ator Gallenger, the caucus nominee, because the pro- 
gressives, as they then termed themselves, insisted on 
voting for Senator Clapp. To intensify the Repub- 
lican dissensions, the action of President Taft in call- 
ing an extraordinary session for the consideration of 
the Canadian Reciprocity bill was as gall and worm- 
wood to the extreme exponents of a high protective 
tariff. The Republicans were surly, and hopeless, 
disorganized, distrustful, demoralized. 

And into this new senate the elections of 1910 had 
injected new blood. Aldrich, for a generation the 
potential leader of triumphant reactionary princi- 
ples, no longer answered to the roll call. Hale of 
Maine, the first lieutenant of Aldrich, had retired. 
So too had Burrows of Michigan, one of the little 
coterie that arbitrarily determined the course of leg- 
islation in "the good old days." On the Democratic 
side of the chamber were many new faces, some 
young, some old, but all fresh from the people and 
militantly progressive in their tendencies — their 
faces to the east. From Maine the virile, forceful 
Johnson— the first Democrat in generations; from 
Missouri the eloquent, picturesque militant, James 
A. Reed, destined to claim and compel a hearing 
from the start; from Ohio, in the seat of the reac- 



Kern's First Congress 211 

tionary Foraker, Atlee Pomerene, a thinker and 
fighter with faith and vision; from Nebraska the 
brilliant and aggressive journalist, Gilbert Hitch- 
cock; from New York James A. O'Gorman, than 
whom no stronger character has ever represented the 
Empire state, independent in thought and action; 
from Tennessee the youthful Luke Lea — "Young 
Thunderbolt," they called him, because of his pug- 
nacity in battling for whatever he considered right; 
from New Jersey, fresh from his triumph over 
Smith, the former senator who had helped to scuttle 
the Democratic ship in the emasculation of the Wil- 
son bill seventeen years before; from Montana, 
Henry L. Myers, the soul of sincerity and political 
honor; from West Virginia, William E. Chilton, 
and from Mississippi the brilliant John Sharpe Wil- 
liams. Thus of the thirty-nine Democratic senators 
ten were new men and every one progressive in his 
tendencies and determined upon an aggressive party 
policy. 

In the days immediately preceding the opening of 
the session the new Democratic senators, fresh from 
the people, held numerous conferences, and into these 
conferences other senators holding similar views, 
such as Shively of Indiana and Stone of Missouri, 
were drawn. There was much to consult about. The 
rank and file of the party throughout the country 
had not been satisfied with the character of the Dem- 



212 Life of John W. Kern 

ocratic opposition to the Payne-Aldrich tariff bill, 
which had been secondary to that of the Republican 
rebels. During the long years of Democratic defeat 
there had developed among the Democratic gray 
beards of the senate an exotic known as the "White 
House" senator — the man whose party militancy had 
been softened into mushiness through the influence 
of social and patronage favors. There were others 
thought to be on too intimate terms with the Repub- 
lican oligarchy dominated by Aldrich. Flowers over 
the garden wall had become too common. In brief 
the masses of the Democratic party were demanding 
a far more aggressive and uncompromising party 
policy than had been in evidence in a number of 
years. And practically all of the new senators, fresh 
from the people, shared heartily in these views. 

But the method of impressing their views upon 
the Democratic membership of the senate presented 
a problem. Under the antiquated rules and practices, 
sustained by the pernicious rule of seniority, which 
held that new senators should be seen and not heard 
for an indefinite period, the old regime would ar- 
bitrarily determine committee assignments and, 
largely, caucus action. And they were practical 
politicians — these new men. They were not in the 
least awed by the atmosphere of the capitol. And 
they understood perfectly that if they were to get a 
"place in the sun" for the policies they stood for they 



Kernes First Congress 213 

would have to fight for it. This they determined 
to do. 

From the beginning these new men gathered 
around Senator Kern, who was not only the oldest 
man among them, but the best known nationally. 
Day by day groups gathered in his offices, and with- 
out in any sense claiming it he found himself in the 
position of counselor of the militant progressives — 
the exponents of the new deal. His forty years of 
active participation in the hard-fought political bat- 
tles of the doubtful state of Indiana gave assurance 
of a safe leadership ; and his very name was a symbol 
of the policy these new men proclaimed. 

The fight came in the election of the caucus leader, 
whose power to name the committee on committees 
made him in a large sense the determining factor in 
deciding the general tone of the Democratic side of 
the senate. Senator Martin of Virginia, who had 
been the leader and expected to retain the leadership, 
was generally looked upon as an ultra conservative, 
and'at that very hour a fight was being made against 
him along progressive lines in the Old Dominion. A 
man of pleasing personality and unfailing courtesy, 
the decision to contest his re-election was not predi- 
cated upon personal dislike, but upon the fact that 
he at the time symbolized the old regime, which the 
new men proposed to pull down. For this purpose \ 
Senator Kern presented to the caucus, in opposition. 



214 Life of John W. Kern 

the name of Senator Shively. The vote was a revela- 
tion to the "gray beards." Notwithstanding the vig- 
orous fight made in behalf of the Virginia senator, 
the peculiar sense of senatorial courtesy, the personal 
pleas that his defeat would be used unfairly against 
him in his fight in the primaries of the state, the ac- 
cessions to the new senators from the old were so 
numerous that Martin's majority was not at all grati- 
fying. 

This marked the beginning of the general reor- 
ganization of the Democrats of the senate. The rep- 
resentatives of the old regime readily recognized the 
necessity of making concessions, and in the selection 
of the steering committee, or committee on commit- 
tees, the new senator from Indiana was included. 
This within itself was a distinction seldom, until 
then, accorded a new member. 

It was in connection with his work on this com- 
mittee that Senator Kern met the greatest embarrass- 
ment of his senatorial career, resulting in some un- 
just criticism on the part of his political enemies in 
Indiana. The determination of the personnel of the 
important Finance committee, it was his desire that 
his colleague, Senator Shively, should have a place 
on this committee. Not only did the senior senator 
desire the assignment, but he was peculiarly fitted for 
it by a lifetime of study of fiscal legislation. No man 
connected with the public life of Indiana for a gen- 



Kernes First Congress 215 

eration had possessed such a mastery of the intrica- 
cies of tariff legislation. He had unhappily been de- 
prived of the opportunity of participating actively 
in the discussions of the Payne-Aldrich bill by the 
physical breakdown which had followed almost im- 
mediately his entrance to the senate, and he had felt 
it keenly. But his special qualifications for service 
on this committee were well known by all his col- 
leagues, and he had the further qualification of hav- 
ing served on the Ways and Means committee of the 
house. For some reason a stubborn opposition to the 
appointment of Senator Shively developed, and to 
make the situation more embarrassing it was pro- 
posed by Senator Kern's colleagues on the committee 
that he should accept a place on the Finance com- 
mittee. In the meanwhile some senators, understand- 
ing Kern's position, called upon Shively with a frank 
statement of the situation, with the view to getting 
his indorsement of Kern's acceptance, but the senior 
senator, not unnaturally mififed by the attitude of 
the steering committee, maintained silence. At this 
the senators who made the attempt returned to the 
meeting of the committee, and, in the absence of 
Kern, and knowing his position, placed him upon 
the Finance committee. These facts are set forth 
because of the disposition of Senator Kern's enemies 
to create the impression that he had used his position 
on the steering committee to further his own inter- 



216 Life of John W. Kesn 

ests at the expense of his colleague. Of interest in 
this connection is the fact that two years later when 
elected to the leadership of the senate and the chair- 
manship of the steering committee he voluntarily 
retired from the Finance committee in favor of his 
colleague, while permitting him to retain the equally 
important assignment as ranking member of the com- 
mittee on Foreign Relations. Notwithstanding the 
persistent efforts of petty busy-bodies in Indiana to 
alienate the two senators, their relations warmed 
with their years of association in the senate and were 
never closer than when, on the solicitation of the 
dying Shively, Senator Kern called at the White 
House to urge the appointment as ambassador to 
Chili of Joseph H. Shea, who had managed Shive- 
ly's campaign for the senate against Kern in the legis- 
lature of 1909. 

Thus within a month after taking the oath as a 
senator Kern found himself in the enviable position 
of holding places on the Steering and Finance com- 
mittees — a most unusual experience for a new sen- 
ator. Among his other assignments was to the com- 
mittee on Privileges and Elections, with which he 
was most intimately identified through his career in 
the senate. Before most new senators could be ex- 
pected to learn their way about the capitol Kern was 
numbered among the leaders. 



Kern's First Congress 217 



Senator Kern had scarcely warmed his seat in the 
senate before he found himself, together with seven 
other members of the committee on Privileges and 
Elections, engaged in the herculean task of investi- 
gating the charges of corruption in connection with 
the election of Senator Lorimer of Illinois. This re- 
quired many months of ceaseless toil, and the case 
itself is one of the most fascinating and important in 
American history. Because of the enormous impor- 
tance of the case and the fact that Senator Kern was 
forced by circumstances into the position of leader- 
ship of the forces persuaded of Lorimer's guilt I 
shall touch upon this phase of his career in a separate 
chapter. During the period of the investigation he 
was necessarily withdrawn from active participation 
in other work of the senate, and while a member of 
the Finance committee in charge of the Canadian 
Reciprocity bill, to pass which congress had been 
called in extraordinary session, he was unable to par- 
ticipate in the hearings of the committee or the dis- 
cussions on the floor to the extent that he otherwise 
would. During the interval, however, between the 
beginning of the Lorimer investigation and the final 
debate upon the reports of the committee he assumed 
a task that was very near to his heart in the cham- 



218 Life of John W. Kern 

pionship of the Sherwood DoUar-a-Day pension bill 
in the senate, in the course of which he delivered the 
speech which attracted more general comment from 
the civil war veterans throughout the country than 
any other public utterance in forty years. 

The Democratic state convention in which he was 
nominated for the senate had declared in favor of 
the immediate passage of a bill of this character, and 
during his campaign he had taken pains to especially 
indorse this plank and pledge himself to do all within 
his power to secure the enactment of such a law. 

The election w^hich sent Senator Kern to the senate 
restored the house of representatives to the Demo- 
crats for the first time in sixteen years, and General 
Sherwood, one of the most gallant soldiers of the 
civil war, who was made chairman of the Pension 
committee, undertook the formulation of a measure 
incorporating the doUar-a-day feature. This pic- 
turesque old warrier, almost eighty years of age, but 
as peppery in his advocacy of whatever he believed 
in as in the days of his youth, lived at the Congress 
Hall Hotel, where he came into intimate relations 
with Senator Kern, who undertook the leadership of 
the fight for the Sherwood bill after it reached the 
senate. 

The senate, however, was still Republican, and 
when the house bill reached the senate it was 
promptly side-tracked for a less liberal measure pre- 



Kernes First Congress 219 

pared by Senator McCumber, chairman of the Pen- 
sion committee of the upper chamber. When the 
Sherwood bill provided for a straight dollar-a-day 
for all the remaining veterans of the civil war, the 
McCumber measure was based upon a scale deter- 
mined by age and length of service, but providing 
for a dollar a day for all totally incapacitated for 
manual labor through disease or wounds of service 
origin. It was wholly unsatisfactory to the soldiers, 
but met the approval of the politicians and the pure 
patriots of the parlor and the library and editorial 
sanctums. And it was understood to have the ap- 
proval of the president. There was not the slightest 
possibility for the passage of any other bill. 

This, however, did not deter Senator Kern from 
making a spirited plea for the more liberal measure 
from the house. It was his first set speech in the sen- 
ate, and while comparatively short was prepared 
with considerable care — written with a pencil upon 
a pad in his beautiful chirography. During the de- 
livery of the speech that afternoon, March i6, 19 12, 
General Sherwood sat a few seats distant, his trum- 
pet to his ear, nodding vigorous assent, and he was 
given close attention by his colleagues, but there was 
nothing in its reception in the senate chamber to sug- 
gest the really remarkable efifect it had upon the sol- 
diers from Massachusetts to California. The press 
associations carried but a meager part of the speech, 



220 Life of John W. Kern 

but it was enough to strike a responsive chord in the 
men most vitally affected. The day following its 
delivery hundreds of letters expressive of gratitude 
poured in upon the senator from Pennsylvania, New 
York, Maryland and West Virginia; the next day 
brought hundreds from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Ken- 
tucky; and so on until the sixth day, when they ar- 
rived as numerously from Oregon and California. 
No speech on the pension question had attracted 
such widespread attention in more than a generation. 
Resolutions from hundreds of Grand Army posts 
soon followed; and then, with the publication, and 
distribution by request of the speech, letters from 
scores of posts telling of meetings devoted to the 
reading of the speech for the benefit of those too old 
to read. This speech is treasured, no doubt, to-day 
by thousands of these old men all over the country. 

Ill 

The extraordinary session called in April, 191 1, 
by President Taft in the hope and expectation of the 
early passage of the Canadian Reciprocity bill 
dragged dismally through the terrific heat of that 
summer and did not conclude until in the last week 
in August. The hearings by the Finance committee 
were unnecessarily prolonged, and largely through 
the insistence of leading members of the president's 
own party, who feared the possible effect of the 



Kernes First Congress 221 

slightest breach in the protection walls. Never, un- 
less during the period that the Payne-Aldrich bill 
was in process of incubation, had the capital been so 
overrun with the professional lobbyists of the inter- 
ests, posing as representatives of the farmers, while 
lolling in evening dress at night in Peacock Alley at 
the Willard. Senator Kern, when not engaged with 
the Lorimer investigation, occupied his seat at the 
table, and he was in hearty sympathy with the prin- 
ciple involved and with the patriotic purpose of 
President Taft, for whom he entertained a personal 
affection. For the purpose of convenience I shall 
here disregard the chronological order of events, and 
complete the story of his work during the 62nd con- 
gress with the exception of his most important work 
on the Lorimer committee, which requires a separate 
chapter. In doing so I shall merely touch upon in- 
cidents reflecting his views on public questions of 
vital interests. 

In the winter of 1911-12 his position relative to the 
legitimate interest of the nation in labor difficulties 
directly affecting single states, foreshadowing the 
fight he was destined to make on behalf of the coal 
miners of West Virginia, was disclosed in the dis- 
cussion of a resolution directing or requesting the 
Commissioner of Labor to furnish full information 
to the senate regarding the condition of the textile 
mill workers of Lawrence, Massachusetts. A strike 



222 Life of John W. Kern 

had been on for some time, and in addition to the 
most startling disclosures, through the press, of the 
wages, ages and living conditions of the workers, it 
was charged that the local authorities of Lawrence 
had forcibly prevented the wives of the strikers from 
sending their children into other states where pro- 
vision had been made for their proper feeding dur- 
ing the continuance of the strike. An opposition to 
the resolution had developed in the senate under the 
guise of a protest against any intended federal in- 
terference with the rights of the states, very similar 
to that which was to be invoked in the case of West 
Virginia, and led by the same man, Senator Bacon 
of Georgia. Senator Kern participated in the debate 
on behalf of the resolution. This was not to be his 
last manifestation of impatience with the disposition 
to invoke the "rights" and the "dignity" of states for 
the prevention of federal interference with barbar- 
ous conditions affecting the lowly. The resolution 
was ultimately adopted in amended form, but in the 
meanwhile the house of representatives had entered 
into a thorough investigation which exposed condi- 
tions so inhuman as to shock the country. 

And as the Lawrence resolution foreshadowed his 
views on West Virginia, the views he was to express 
in the Lorimer report were indicated in advance in 
the debate on the report of the senatorial committee, 
which had investigated the charge that Senator Ste- 



Kern's First Congress 223 

phenson of Wisconsin had attained his seat through 
the wholesale corruption of voters in a primary. The 
accused senator, a millionaire, with no pretense to 
statesmanship or high political capacity, and repre- 
senting the opposition to Lafollette, had admittedly 
turned over to his political managers extraordinary 
sums of money. It was his contention that this had 
been intended for proper purposes, the renting of 
halls, advertising, and the payment of the traveling 
expenses of speakers. It was developed that this 
money had undoubtedly been used for corruption 
purposes, but there was considerable sympathy for 
Stephenson, whose term was drawing to a close and 
who was very old and feeble. ''Why disgrace him on 
the brink of the grave?" was the plea of his support- 
ers. And the little frail figure with the scraggly 
beard and sad old eyes looking into space, while the 
jaws worked ceaselessly in the chewing of gum, did 
appeal to one's sense of the pathetic. Senator Kern 
admitted to a feeling of compassion for the old man 
whose sins had found him out, but he was unwilling 
to compromise a principle on that account. There 
were features to the Stephenson case that appealed 
to him as infinitely more dangerous than any de- 
veloped in the case of Lorimer, for they went di- 
rectly to the debauching of the electorate. During 
his participation in the discussion Kern scornfully 
assailed two sophistries dear to the corruptionist and 



224 Life of John W. Kern 

urged in defense of the accused — the idea that the 
payment of money to men "to work" for a candidate 
is anything other than the bribing of the man, and 
the suggestion that the payment of money to an editor 
for editorial commendation of a candidate is any- 
thing other than a bribe of the most sinister nature. 
These two evils — the debauching of the voter and 
the subsidization of the press he looked upon as the 
gravest danger possible to free institutions. Hating 
the use of money for the control of elections with all 
his soul, he unhesitatingly put aside his personal 
sympathy for a very old man, and joined the minority 
in voting for his expulsion from the senate, to which 
he ought never have been admitted. 

That he was not actuated in matters of this nature 
by the motives of a demagogue was shown in his atti- 
tude in the vote on the impeachment of Judge Archi- 
bald, a United States circuit judge of Scranton, Penn- 
sylvania, accused of having made corrupt use of his 
office. The vote was taken early in January, 1913. 
In the early fall of 19 12 Senator Kern had entered 
upon the defense of the officers of the Structural Iron 
Workers in the federal court in Indianapolis on the 
supposition that the case would be concluded long 
before congress would convene in December. The 
trial dragged along through many weeks and unable 
and unwilling to desert his clients in the midst of 
their trial he was unable to return to Washington 



Kekn^s First Congress 225 

until after the Christmas holidays. Not having had 
the opportunity to see and hear the witnesses he asked 
the senate to excuse him from voting, and his re- 
quest was granted. This was characteristic. The 
cause of Judge Archibald was an exceedingly un- 
popular one, and had he been an ordinary poseur in 
his hatred of corruption in high places he could have 
voted in accord with what he knew public opinion 
to be. But a poseur he was not — and he always ca- 
tered to the commendation of his own conscience. 

In less than fifteen months after entering the sen- 
ate he had taken a position by common consent 
among the Democratic leaders of that body, and had 
established a national reputation as an enemy of po- 
litical corruption, as a friend of the civil war vet- 
eran, and as the special champion in the senate of the 
working classes of the country. 



CHAPTER XII 

Kern's Fight Against Lorimerism 
I 

SENATOR KERN had hardly had time to ac- 
quaint himself with the capitol before the senate 
assigned to him one of the most unpleasant, onerous 
and important duties of his career in placing him on 
the sub-committee of the committee on Privileges 
and Elections to investigate the charge that Senator 
Lorimer had entered the senate through the corrup- 
tion of members of the Illinois legislature. In the 
election of 1908 the primary choice of the Republi- 
cans for the senatorship w^as Senator Hopkins, the 
Democratic choice Lawrence B. Stringer. The elec- 
tion resulted in 127 Republicans and 'j^ Democrats 
being sent to the legislature, and in the regular order 
the Republican candidate would have been promptly 
elected to the senate. Many Republicans, however, 
had refused to abide by the edict of the primary, and 
a prolonged deadlock was the result. The balloting 
extended through many weeks, and in the meanwhile 
the Republicans, engaged in a bitter battle in the 
United States senate over the Payne-Aldrich tariff 
bill, and with numerous schedules in danger of de- 
feat because of the disaffection represented by the 



Kernes Fight Against Lorimerism 227 

opposition of Dolliver, Beveridge and others, be- 
came insistent upon the strengthening of their lines 
through the termination of the deadlock in Illinois 
and the election of a Republican senator. Thus the 
senatorial contest at Springfield took on a national 
importance. The Republicans were suffering 
through the deadlock, which deprived them of an 
additional vote, and the Democrats were having all 
the advantage. Suddenly fifty-three Democrats, dis- 
regarding the plea of their national committeeman 
that they remain loyal to their party's candidate, 
joined with fifty-five Republicans and elected Wil- 
liam Lorimer, a reactionary Republican who could 
be depended upon by the Aldrich-Penrose forces in 
the tariflf fight at Washington. Almost a year later 
The Chicago Tribune published the sensational con- 
fession of Charles A. White, a Democratic member 
of the legislature, implicating other members in a 
wholesale purchase under the engineery of Lee 
O'Neil Browne, the leader of the majority faction 
of the Democrats. This was followed by the filing of 
formal charges in the senate against Lorimer, and 
an investigation was instituted under the direction 
of a sub-committee of the committee on Privileges 
and Elections under the chairmanship of Senator 
Burrows of Michigan. This investigation was far- 
sical in many respects, and the committee reported in 
substance that the charges had not been sustained. 



228 Life of John W. Kern 

The evidence that was permitted to leak through, 
however, was so damning and convincing in its na- 
ture that a minority report was submitted, and pow- 
erful speeches against the "blond boss," as Lorimer 
was called, were delivered by Senator Root and Bev- 
eridge. The press of the country generally charac- 
terized the report of the committee as a "white 
wash," and the public was aroused. 

Almost a month after the congress had adjourned 
a committee of the state senate of Illinois, investigat- 
ing the charges, was informed through the editor of 
The Chicago Tribune that Clarence S. Funk of the 
International Harvester Company had been ap- 
proached immediately after the election of Lorimer 
by Edward Hines of the Lumber Trust with the in- 
formation that it had required $100,000 to elect Lori- 
mer, and the request that Funk's company contribute 
$10,000 toward the fund. 

Immediately afterward Senator Lafollette intro- 
duced a resolution in the United States senate pro- 
viding for a new investigation. 

Thus was inaugurated one of the most exhaustive 
and significant investigations ever held by the United 
States senate, which was to delve deep into the most 
sinister influences that assail the integrity of free in- 
stitutions, the debasing effect of bi-partisan combina- 
tions of politicians for personal gain, the corrupting 
influence of powerful financial elements upon the 



Kern's Fight Against Lorimerism 229 

public life of the nation, the ail-too frequent sus- 
ceptibilty of law makers to the blandishments of the 
bribe giver. For 102 days the committee was to listen 
to the unraveling of one of the most startling tales 
of political debauchery ever told. Before it was to 
file an incongruous company of witnesses — leaders 
of the United States senate, such as Aldrich and Pen- 
rose, potential political leaders like Roger A. Sulli- 
van, governors and former governors, the million- 
aire and the beggar, the briber and the bribed, jour- 
nalists and bartenders, detectives and street car con- 
ductors, drunkards and reformers, the high and low, 
the rich and poor, the good and bad. It was to be- 
come a participant in one of the most tremendous 
political dramas ever enacted in America — comedy 
treading on the heels of tragedy, to be followed by 
burlesque and vaudeville. It was to have a hundred 
million people, the perpetuity of whose institutions 
was at stake, as an audience, and they were to await 
with the keenest interest the moral of the play. 

And in this drama Senator Kern was soon to play 
the most important role, from the viewpoint of those 
w^ho believed the extermination of Lorimerism to be 
essential to the safety of free institutions. There was 
nothing theatrical about the setting of the play. With 
the exception of a few weeks in Chicago the commit- 
tee held its hearings in a prosy, unadorned, and small 
room on the ground floor of the senate office building. 



230 Life of John W. Kern 

The witness chair in the center in the front of the 
room — to one side the long table of the press corre- 
spondents, at which sat some of the cleverest men of 
the profession — on the opposite side the members of 
the committee, and stretching back to the wall chairs 
for the audience. These w^ere often, for the most 
part, unoccupied, but usually they were filled and 
many were standing — attaches of the capitol who 
dropped in while on their errands to catch a few 
words of the witnesses. These attaches were for the 
most part intense partisans of the accused senator, 
who found ways of making their feeling felt. And 
strangely enough the greater part of the audience 
through those hot summer days of 191 1 and the win- 
ter days of 191 2 were intensely loyal to the blond 
boss — so much so that the capitol policeman stationed 
in the room was requested by a Lorimer partisan to 
move the parties who were not sufficiently demon- 
strative in their jubilation when the accused man 
scored. 

In the front row sat Lorimer — bland, humble, the 
picture of innocent martyrdom — a pose he consis- 
tently maintained until he walked out of the senate at 
the behest of his colleagues and to the applause of 
the republic. Nothing so damaging as to disturb his 
composure, nothing so startling as to coax to his 
placid features an expression of surprise. And beside 
him sat the Symbol of his ruin — Edward Hines, the 



Kernes Fight Against Lorimerism 231 

millionaire lumber man whose boast of having "put 
Lorimer over" whispered in the lobby of the Union 
League Club at Chicago resounded through the 
country. This strangely indiscreet, purse-proud ex- 
ponent of Big Business at its worst hovered near 
Lorimer like a shadow. And there too beside him 
sat the clever, brilliant, sarcastic and witty Judge 
Henecy, his attorney — as resourceful and able as any 
lawyer in the country. Across the room at another 
table were the counsel of the committee, Healy and 
Marble, keen, alert, as resourceful as the judge and 
buttressed about by a better cause. 

Senator Kern was not eager for the task the senate 
had assigned him. It meant his practical withdrawal 
from all other senate activities for an indefinite pe- 
riod, and his concentration as in a case in court upon 
every word of evidence adduced. While morally 
positive of Lorimer's guilt from the beginning, he 
was early convinced, and his sense of duty gradually 
forced him into greater and greater prominence as a 
developer of the case against the accused. A man of 
kindly instincts, he had never relished the role of a 
prosecutor, and in his private practice of his pro- 
fession had seldom appeared except in defense in 
criminal cases. But once convinced of Lorimer's 
guilt, he determined that every possible avenue of 
information tending to uncover what he considered 
a great crime against American institutions should 



232 Life of John W. Kern 

be followed to the end. It was early whispered about 
and generally credited that the second investigation, 
like the first, would end in a white wash. Very early 
he was startled to find from their general attitude 
,that the majority of the committee were apparently 
not impressed by what he considered overwhelming 
evidence of guilt. The honesty of this attitude he 
never questioned, but, convinced himself, he set him- 
self to the task of developing the evidence along the 
line of his own conviction. This led him to the posi- 
tion he unquestionably held at the conclusion of the 
hearings as the leader in the fight for the unseating 
of the blond boss. 

II 

The line of cleavage on the committee was clear 
very soon after the hearings began. Feeling as he 
did early in the proceedings, that a majority of the 
committee would support a report favorable to the 
accused, Kern, intensely convinced of his guilt, 
keenly felt the responsibility which fell to him. 
This feeling was shared by two other members of 
the committee, Kenyon and Lea. It was during the 
period of the Lorimer hearing that the feeling of 
mutual respect and affection sprang up between the 
three men which continued until Senator Kern's 
death. All three were new members of the senate, 
but Kern had a long career behind him and was more 
than sixty years old, while Kenyon and Lea were 



Kern's Fight Against Lorimerism 233 

unusually young and comparatively new to public 
life. They were both of the same general type and 
this a type that strongly appealed to the older man 
— the clean-cut, buoyant, independent, courageous 
and incorruptible type, bubbling with the enthusi- 
asms of youth, and ardently anxious to serve the coun- 
try according to their light. Both were men of vigor- 
ous mentality, keen and alert and "spoiling for a 
fight" with such wrongs as might present themselves, 
and both were skilled lawyers and competent for the 
task assigned them. It was most natural that young 
men, new to the senate, and sharing in a desire to 
serve the people, should have drifted together; the 
fact that both drifted toward the veteran of sixty 
was wonderfully complimentary to the character of 
the older man. Their common hatred of political 
corruption, their common indifference to party lines 
where corruption was involved, their common con- 
tempt for the fetish of "senatorial courtesy" which 
has so frequently served a sinister end, and their com- 
mon conviction of the guilt of the blond boss, gave 
them a common cause, and the three stood together, 
drawing closer all the while, throughout the long- 
drawn battle. When the committee was not in ses- 
sion the two younger senators frequently called at 
Kern's office for informal discussions of the evi- 
dence. "My boys," Kern called them. And to a 
somewhat less degree he became strongly attached 



234 Life of John W. Kern 

to John Marble, the brilliant young lawyer em- 
ployed by the committee as counsel. The fervor and 
whole-heartedness with which the lawyer threw him- 
self into the preparation of his case and into the 
cross-examination of witnesses early won his admira- 
tion. He loved youth, with its shining armor, and 
especially when he conceived it to be "fighting the 
battles of the Lord." The brunt of the actual battle 
against Lorimerism was thus waged by youth 
grouped about the venerable statesman to whose 
judgment it often looked for guidance on question- 
able points. 

And Kern was well qualified for leadership. His 
almost half century of participation in politics and 
association with politicians had left little for him to 
learn of the ways and wiles of the breed. He knew 
how the game was played according to Springfield, 
for that capital of Illinois had no monopoly on the 
combination of bi-partisan politicians with unscru- 
pulous business interests. It was not easy to deceive 
him. And here, too, his unusual gift at cross-exami- 
nation which had been his forte in the trial of cases 
all his life was to stand him in good stead. He knew 
men, understood human nature, and was quick in the 
appraisement of the character and truthfulness of 
witnesses. Nature, acquirements and character com- 
bined to make him an important factor in the extir- 
pation of Lorimerism. 



Kernes Fight Against Lorimerism 235 

III 

An examination of the voluminous evidence in the 
case will disclose that the majority of the committee 
took little or no part in the examination of witnesses, 
and the major part, and practically all the cross- 
examination of Lorimer witnesses was done by the 
three members who came to the conclusion of Lori- 
mer's guilt, Kern, Kenyon and Lea. Senator Kern 
was the most active. 

The theory on which Kern worked after a careful 
reading of the evidence before the Burrows commit- 
tee and the Helm committee of the state senate of 
Illinois and the statement of Funk was about this: 
Edward Hines, interested in the lumber schedule of 
the Payne-Aldrich bill and lobbying in Washington, 
was urged by Aldrich and Penrose to help hurry a 
new Republican vote into the senate from Illinois to 
help out in the tariff fight. After conferences it was 
agreed that Lorimer should be the choice, and Hines 
undertook to put the agreement into effect. He 
financed the fight for Lorimer. The money was used 
through the management of Lee O'Neil Browne, 
the clever leader of the majority wing of the Demo- 
crats in the lower house of the legislature, and with 
the knowledge of Lorimer. He was absolutely posi- 
tive that the wholesale defection of the Democrats 
to Lorimer could only have been the result of cor- 



236 Life of John W. Kern 

rupt influence because the election of a reactionary 
Republican senator might, in view of the conditions 
surrounding the tariff fight in the senate, determine 
a national policy to which Democrats were elemen- 
tally opposed and upon which they had made their 
campaign one year before. Had these Democrats 
gone to a Republican who would vote with DoUiver 
and Beveridge he might not have been so sure. Go- 
ing to Lorimer, he was predisposed to the belief that 
money had been used.' This frame of mind mani- 
fested itself repeatedly in all his examination of po- 
litical witnesses. He appealed to Governor Deneen 
for one reason for Democrats deserting their party 
to vote for a reactionary Republican under condi- 
tions existing in Washington; to Yates, to Hopkins, 
to Stringer, to the members of the legislature who 
deserted and without once securing a plausible reply. 

The hatred Senator Kern engendered at this time 
among the friends of Lorimer or the men accused 
did not appear upon the surface. The blond boss 
proved himself a consummate artist in the conceal- 
ment of his hostility until after Kern had summed 
up the case against him. 

But the existence of this hostility was not con- 
cealed. For a period of two months there was 
scarcely a day that did not bring its batch of scurril- 
ous unsigned letters with a Chicago date mark. 

Meanwhile the hearings seemed destined to drag 



Kern's Fight Against Lorimerism 237 

on interminably. Long before the last witness was 
heard enough evidence had been submitted upon 
which any member of the committee might have 
formed an opinion. Newspapers began to hint that 
the purpose was to tire and disgust and confuse by 
the accumulation of the pages of the testimony. 

The official stenographer of the committee 
throughout the hearings had been Milton W. Blu- 
menberg, who stood high in his profession. One 
Saturday afternoon when the Burns stenographer 
was testifying, Blumenberg stood behind his chair 
looking at the witness's notes. The hearing was ad- 
journed for dinner to be renewed in the evening. 
The evidence disclosed that upon leaving the room 
on adjournment Blumenberg met a woman employed 
by the committee who immediately, and, strangely 
enough, challenged his opinion on the genuineness 
of the notes. He declared them "manufactured," 
"faked," and immediately after that Edward Hines 
and others of the Lorimer party appeared upon the 
scene and Blumenberg's opinion was repeated for 
their edification. At the hearing that night Blumen- 
berg broke in unexpectedly with a declaration that 
the notes were manufactured, and when the startled 
members of the committee undertook to question him 
as to his motive they were told they were "not the 
most important people in the world." He was im- 
mediately placed under arrest for contempt and 



238 Life of John W. Kern 

placed in the custody of the sergeant-at-arms, with 
instructions that no one should be permitted to com- 
municate with him. The whole atmosphere had be- 
come so colored with the idea of corruption that the 
incident created a painful impression. He was dis- 
charged from the service of the committee, and the 
matter was dropped on the representation of Blu- 
menberg's friends that he was the victim of a nervous 
breakdown. 

But hard on the heels of this incident another sen- 
sational incident fed the public curiosity when a 
twenty-year-old telegraph operator of the Postal 
Company, stationed at the New Willard Hotel, who 
had sent a telegram for the Burns detective, testified 
that Edward Hines had attempted to bribe her with 
a roll of bills in his hand to let him read the message 
given in by the detective. The girl had not sought 
the notoriety and was so transparently truthful in 
her charming girlish way that no one not directly in- 
terested in the case could have doubted her veracity. 
Thus the trail of the serpent seemed to lead directly 
back to Washington. 

IV 

After the conclusion of the hearings the chief con- 
cern of the supporters of Lorimer was to postpone a 
vote in the senate as long as possible; and the first 
step toward this end was to indefinitely postpone the 



Kernes Fight AgxVINSt Lorimerism 239 

filing of a report. The hearings closed February 9, 
19 1 2, and it was not until May 20th that a report was 
presented to the senate, and it was largely due to the 
insistence of Kern, Kenyon and Lea that the delay 
was not greater. The proceedings of the committee 
when it met on March 27th to vote on a report are of 
historic importance and belong to the public. 

The first resolution ofifered by Senator Jones was 
to the efifect that nothing had developed in the hear- 
ings to justify a reversal of the solemn and deliberate 
judgment of the senate in the vote on the result of the 
first hearings. This challenge was promptly met by 
Senator Kern in the following resolution: 

"That in the opinion of the committee there were 
used and employed in the election of William Lori- 
mer to the senate of the United States corrupt meth- 
ods and practices." 

Before a vote was taken on the Kern resolution, 
which was ofifered as a substitute for the Jones reso- 
lution, the committee voted on an amendment to the 
latter ofifered by Senator Lea to the efifect that the 
investigation had disclosed that corrupt practices 
and methods had been employed. This went directly 
to the heart of the matter and was defeated by a vote 
of five to three, Kern, Lea and Kenyon voting for 
the amendment. 

Senator Lea then followed with a point of order 
to the efifect that the Jones resolution was not respon- 



240 Life of John W. Kern 

sive to the resolution of the senate authorizing the 
investigation in that the committee was only in- 
structed to investigate and report whether corrupt 
methods and practices had been used in the election 
of Lorimer. Senator Dillingham promptly ruled this 
out of order; Lea appealed from the decision; Jones 
moved to lay Lea's appeal on the table, and this was 
done by a vote of four to three, Kern, Kenyon and 
Lea voting against the tabling of Lea's appeal. 

Kern's substitute motion was then defeated by the 
usual vote of five to three and by the same vote the 
Jones resolution was adopted. 

This, however, was not sufficiently vindicative of 
the blond boss, and Senator Jones moved a resolution 
denying the existence of any proof indicative of the 
existence of a "jackpot" fund in the legislature that 
elected Lorimer "other than the statements of White, 
Beckemeyer, Link and Holslaw that they were paid 
money after the election." Senator Kern moved to 
amend by adding after the word "Holslaw" the 
words "and certain circumstances corroborating said 
statements." The Kern amendment was defeated by 
the usual vote of five to three. 

Senator Kern next introduced the following reso- 
lution : 

"That in the opinion of this committee there was a 
fund distributed in the city of St. Louis to certain 
members of the Illinois legislature who had voted 



Kernes Fight Against Lorimerism 241 

for William Lorimer and also that Senator Brod- 
erick paid to Senator Holslaw in the city of Chicago 
money on two occasions." 

This was met at once by Senator Johnston with the 
amendment that if money was paid out at Chicago or 
any other city it was not to vote for Lorimer. After 
some discussion Senator Lea ofifered a substitute for 
Kern's resolution, which the latter accepted, to the 
effect that on certain specified dates certain specified 
men distributed money to members of the Illinois 
legislature at St. Louis. The evidence had been over- 
whelmingly convincing on this point, but the reso- 
lution failed to secure votes other than those of Kern, 
Kenyon and Lea. Other resolutions followed com- 
pletely and rather aggressively exonerating both 
Edward Hines and Lorimer, and the line of cleav- 
age on the committee was unmistakably made. 

The committee having taken its stand the three 
anti-Lorimer senators were insistent upon an early 
report to the senate. Night after night Kern, Ken- 
yon and Lea met to go over the evidence with a view 
to the preparation of the minority report. Acting 
upon the theory that if they could show from the 
evidence that votes had been purchased for Lorimer 
their position would be vindicated and unassailable, 
they agreed to brush aside all reference to much of 
the evidence and to concentrate on the essentials and 
to make their report both brief and vigorous. Ex- 



242 Life of John W. Kern 

pressing a vigorous dissent from the proposed white 
washing of Hines by the majority, expressing con- 
fidence in the truth of the testimony of Funk and 
Burgess, they briefly analyzed the evidence of a num- 
ber of the witnesses, and concluded: 

"Believing that the confession of the members of 
the legislature, strengthened by corroborating cir- 
cumstances and by other evidence relating to the 
members of the legislature who did not confess, 
establish conclusively not only that at least ten mem- 
bers were purchased for the purpose of electing Wil- 
liam Lorimer to the senate, but that the record reeks 
and teems with evidence of a general scheme of cor- 
ruption, we have no hesitancy in stating that the in- 
vestigation establishes beyond contradiction that the 
election of William Lorimer was obtained by cor- 
rupt means and was therefore invalid, and we sub- 
mit the following resolution: 

"Resolved, That corrupt methods and practices 
were employed in the election of William Lorimer 
to the senate of the United States from the state of 
Illinois, and that his election was therefore invalid. 

"William S. Kenyon. 

"John W. Kern. 

"Luke Lea." 

While all three of the minority members were ac- 
tive in the preparation of their report, there appears 
to be no doubt that Senator Kern's judgment was 
largely the determining factor in laying out the line 
of battle. 



Kern's Fight Against Lorimerism 243 

The majority report was lengthy and argumenta- 
tive, covering ninety pages, while the minority were 
able to state their case in twenty- two. The moment 
it became known that a majority of the committee 
had vigorously espoused the cause of Lorimer the 
press and magazines of the country declared that the 
nation was to be treated to another white washing of 
Lorimer. The Nation s comment was that: 

. . . "All that is left for the senate to say is 
whether its sense of smell is less acute than that of 
the country." 

V 

The filing of the reports did not end Senator 
Kern's labors in the case, for it was decided that he 
should open the debate in favor of the expulsion of 
Lorimer and analyze the evidence submitted for the 
benefit of the senate and the country. It is little less 
than remarkable that he was not given greater credit 
by the press of the country for the part he played in 
ridding the senate of Lorimerism. To satisfy myself 
that his was the dominating part I have appealed to 
the three men who were in position to know, the two 
senators who acted with him and the Washington 
correspondent of The Chicago Tribune, who fol- 
lowed every detail of the case. The three unite in 
crediting Kern with having been the dominating 
influence. Senator Kenyon said that "John Kern's 



244 Life of John W. Kern 

ideas were the predominating influence." Senator 
Lea said: 

"Senator Kern was a dominating force in that part 
of the Lorimer committee that resulted in the full 
investigation of the case. The committee was in- 
tended by some to be a white wash and it was Kern's 
determination to prevent that. His insight into hu- 
man nature and knowledge of men enabled us to ex- 
tricate from unwilling witnesses incidents in Illinois 
politics which gave color and meaning to much tes- 
timony that would otherwise have been barren of 
significance. Again Senator Kern's tact prevented 
much friction in the committee that might have re- 
sulted in outbursts that would have diverted atten- 
tion from the main issue — the guilt or innocence of 
Lorimer. Again Kern's droll and ridiculing sense 
of humor so discomfited many of the witnesses that 
they could not adhere to their prepared testimony." 

John Callan O'Loughlin said: 

*'I am so glad that you are writing the biography 
of Senator Kern. He was a big man, straight- 
forward, wholesome, and one with a high ethical 
sense. His conduct in connection with the Lorimer 
case in itself justifies the country in holding up his 
memory to remind future generations of what they 
owe to him. 

"Mr. Kern, when he began his duty as a member 
of the Lorimer investigating committee — it was a 
distasteful duty — realized as did we all that the coun- 
try stood at the parting of the ways. Whether cor- 



Kernes Fight Against Lorimerism 245 

ruption was to continue in connection with the elec- 
tion of United States senators or whether the people 
were to be given an opportunity to have their own 
representatives in the upper house was the question 
he was called upon to investigate and determine. I 
know the pressure that was brought to bear upon him 
directly, indirectly, openly and insiduously, and I 
know that he stood up against it with that whole- 
hearted courage which he manifested in other mat- 
ters he faced. 

"As a member of the investigating committee it 
was Mr. Kern's cross-examination which frequently 
brought out points that even members of the com- 
mittee were endeavoring to cover up. If he had not 
been on the committee, I hesitate to say what the 
result might have been. Not only in the committee, 
but on the floor of the senate he pressed the fight 
against corruption. His arguments, or rather his 
presentation of facts, were absolutely convincing, 
but more than this, the fact that he had come to the 
conclusion that Lorimer's seat had been purchased 
unquestionably influenced senators who recognized 
his integrity and the reliability of his judgment. 

"There is no doubt that the expulsion of Lorimer 
from the senate, which was due largely to Senator 
Kern's efforts, brought about the amendment to the 
Constitution for the direct election of senators. In 
itself, this is a monument to Mr. Kern." 

VI 
It fell to Senator Kern to open the debate on the 
reports of the committee and to review the evi- 



246 Life of John W. Kern 

dence upon which the minority had reached its 
conviction of the guilt of the accused senator. It 
was not an easy task to adequately, concisely, sur- 
vey the field that had been covered by hearings 
covering more than a hundred days, requiring 8,588 
printed pages, and including the testimony of 180 
witnesses. Kern's training and skill as a lawyer 
made it possible for him to quickly brush aside 
the non-essentials, but it was necessary for him to 
go over the greater part of the record for the 
proper verification and marshaling of his facts. 
He spent many days carefully going through the 
voluminous testimony jotting down his notes on scrap 
paper, and the greater part of the week preceding 
the delivery of his speech found him at his room at 
Congress Hall engaged in the writing of his speech 
— for the major part of it was reduced to writing and 
read in the senate. The speech was delivered in four 
parts on four separate days, and when he began the 
delivery of the first part nothing of that which had 
been prepared was to be delivered in the second part 
had been prepared. In fact each day he spoke found 
him working upon his speech up to the moment he 
was summoned to the senate, and he found time for 
the typewriting of practically none of it. The Press 
Gallery was clamoring for advance copy, but not a 
line was furnished any paper in advance of its de- 
livery, and the Chicago papers which published it 



Kernes Fight Against Lorimekism 247 

in full were forced to make special arrangements 
with the official reporter of the senate. He was physi- 
cally almost exhausted when he began and almost ill 
before he concluded. That it was a powerful, unan- 
swerable, logical and eloquent arraignment of the 
accused senator was the consensus of opinion among 
the lawyers of the senate, and while other senators 
spoke with comparative brevity in favor of the mi- 
nority report, the ground had been so exhaustively 
and conclusively covered by Kern that these confined 
themselves to one or two features of the case. He did 
not spare in his sarcasms the untenable positions of 
the majority members of the committee. He took 
the position that members of the legislature had been 
bribed; showed from the evidence that there was no 
escape from that position; traced the relationship 
between those members and Lee O'Neil Browne, the 
Lorimer leader, and between Browne and the senator 
and then invited the senate to accept the reasoning 
of the majority report if it could. The plea of res 
adjudicata, upon which the friends of Lorimer made 
their final stand, and which was suggested by the 
Lorimer attorney in the last hours of the hearings, 
appealed to Kern as a brazen daylight attempt to 
thwart the ends of justice. 

Beginning on June 4 he closed after an exhaustive 
analysis of the evidence on June 8th with an elo- 
quent denunciation of the bi-partisan S3^stem of which 



248 Life of John W. Kern 

Lorimer was a member, a beneficiary, and was to 
become a victim. 

Almost a month later the discussion was resumed 
with Kern departing radically from his custom of 
not interrupting senators. Time and again he chal- 
lenged senators speaking for the majority report with 
the evidence and seldom without disclosing the weak- 
ness of the speaker's contention. It is not surprising 
in view of the important part he played in the de- 
velopment of the case against Lorimer and Lorimer- 
ism that the anonymous attacks that had been made 
upon him should find open expression on the floor of 
the senate. This attack came in the course of Lori- 
mer's speech in his own defense. 

This speech was in many respects a remarkable 
one; not remarkable in that it was convincing, for 
the speaker made no attempt to discuss the evidence, 
but in its eloquence and human appeal. It was a 
masterly appeal to the emotions from a consummate 
criminal lawyer conscious of a desperate cause and 
bent on diverting the jury from the irresistible facts 
to the non-essentials. The manner of the delivery 
would have rejoiced the heart of a Belasco. It was 
dramatic, intensely so. No one listening to Lorimer 
as he spoke that day to a packed gallery and with the 
floor of the senate thronged with attaches and mem- 
bers of the house would have been surprised had he 
been told that the speaker was one of the greatest 



Kern's Fight Against Lorimerism 249 

jury orators in the country. It was in the course of 
this speech that Lorimer entered upon a bitter attack 
upon Kern which indicated unmistakably the object 
of his special animus. 

At the time he began this attack Senator Kern, 
who had been ill for a month, but able to attend the 
sessions of the senate, was lying down in his room in 
the senate office building asleep. As soon as the at- 
tack began one of his friends sent word of the trend 
of the Lorimer speech and Kern immediately started 
for the capitol. He was met in the subway under the 
capitol and told of the nature of the attack. It was 
then and there decided that unless the attack became 
too virulent Kern should utterly ignore it. Those 
participating in the conference were agreed that 
such an incident as a personal exchange between 
Kern and Lorimer could only tend to divert atten- 
tion from the real issue and to possibly postpone the 
hour of voting. With this understanding Kern pro- 
ceeded to the senate chamber and finding a chair 
within a few feet of Lorimer turned it so as to face 
the speaker, and in that position remained through 
the remainder of the speech. He found no occasion 
to interrupt. 

VII 

The scene in the senate chamber at the conclusion 
of Lorimer's speech in his own defense was dra- 
matic. The walls were lined with members of the 



250 Life of John W. Kern 

house and attaches of the senate, the press gallery 
was filled to capacity, the other galleries packed 
with men and women, and from the latter came 
stifled sobs as Lorimer rather pathetically described 
the consolation that would counter affect his prob- 
able humiliation in going home to the embrace of his 
family. With an impassioned assertion that his ex- 
pulsion would be a "crime" of "the senate of the 
United States," he paused for a moment, still a pic- 
ture of outraged innocence, and then in his best the- 
atrical manner said, "I am ready," and sank ex- 
hausted into his seat. The roll call on the final vote 
was followed with intense interest, not to determine 
the result which had now become inevitable, but to 
satisfy the curiosity of spectators as to the position 
of individual members. Throughout the roll call the 
accused senator sat expressionless, as during the hear- 
ings, and even the trembling voice of CuUom, his 
venerable colleague who had voted to sustain him 
over a year before, casting a vote for his expulsion 
had no effect. The breakdown of the indomitable 
Tillman in reading his explanation of his vote against 
expulsion added an unexpected thrill to the occasion. 

The vote was announced in the official tone of 
monotony. 

The minority report was adopted by a vote of 55 
to 28. Senator Newlands immediately rose in the re- 
sulting silence to present the credentials of a new 



Kern's Fight Against Lorimerism 251 

senator and the business of the senate proceeded as 
though the waters of oblivion had not just closed 
over a career. 

For a few moments Lorimer sat motionless in his 
seat — then rose and looking neither to the right nor 
the left passed back the center aisle and into the 
Republican cloak room for the last time. At that 
moment there were probably some who felt a fierce 
joy in his degradation, but Senator Kern was not 
one of these. 



CHAPTER XIII 

Kern's Position at the Baltimore 
Convention 

SENATOR KERN had not completely recovered 
from the strain of the Lorimer case when he 
found himself unexpectedly precipitated into the 
maelstrom of the Democratic National Convention 
at Baltimore, unquestionably the most remarkable 
assembly of the representatives of any party ever 
held in America. There have been many versions 
of his part in the important features of the conven- 
tion, but the strange thing is that there has been such 
a general ignorance of the fact that he w^as in truth 
one of the potential figures in that great drama. It 
is known to all, of course, that he was the chairman 
of the committee on Resolutions and Mr. Bryan's 
candidate for the temporary chairmanship, but the 
circumstances under which he became the candidate, 
the importance of his strategy in that contest, and 
the fact that but for his dissent his name would have 
been presented as a presidential candidate at a time 
when the convention seemed hopelessly deadlocked 
and with the support of a number of the most poten- 
tial states, have never figured in the public's estimate 
of his role. It is the intention here to relate this story 
as fully as possible without unpleasantly affecting 




Kern with His F 
Lawsun, Jr., and Juli 



iRA.NUl IIILD, (.EORGE 

Kekn Lawson 



Kern's Position at Baltimore Convention 253 

several prominent politicians who are still upon the 
scene. 

I 

On the Saturday before the Baltimore convention 
met Senator Kern, who had gone to Kerncliffe for a 
much-needed rest, returned to Washington in com- 
parative ignorance of the developments in the con- 
vention city. The news that awaited his return was 
not of a pleasant nature. 

The more important news he learned that hot 
afternoon as he sat in front of the Congress Hall 
Hotel was that the National Committee had selected 
Alton B. Parker of New York for the temporary 
chairmanship to deliver the keynote speech and that 
this had been challenged by Mr. Bryan, who had 
made it quite clear that he would fight. At that time 
he had no idea that he would be called upon to play 
any part in the contest other than to cast his indi- 
vidual vote in the convention. But there were vari- 
ous embarrassing angles to the situation thus pre- 
sented. Many years before he had formed a personal 
friendship for Judge Parker and this friendship had 
grown with the years. The National Committeeman 
from Indiana had voted for Parker, which compli- 
cated the situation from the viewpoint of state poli- 
tics. He entertained a momentary fear that the pros- 
pective fight might tend to the disruption of the party 



254 Life of John W. Kern 

and the destruction of its prospects. But at the same 
time he understood perfectly the motives actuating 
Mr. Bryan and sympathized with them. With some 
forces known to be reactionary, lining up aggres- 
sively behind a man thought by the masses of the 
party west of the eastern mountains to be reactionary 
in his trend of thought, and with Mr. Bryan sound- 
ing the warning that the selection of that man for the 
temporary chairmanship would be a triumph for 
reaction, Senator Kern instantly knew his position in 
the fight. It was not a pleasant one; it came to be a 
far more important one than is generally known. 

The National Committee had entrusted a sub- 
committee of eight to select the temporary chairman 
and this committee first proffered the position to 
Mr. Bryan, who declined, and then to Senator Kern, 
who refused to serve. It was the suggestion of both 
Mr. Bryan and Senator Kern that a thoroughly pro- 
gressive Democrat, nationally known as such, should 
be chosen. The forces of Champ Clark had a candi- 
date who measured up to the desired standard in 
OUie James of Kentucky, then a member of the 
house, and the Wilson forces favored the election of 
Robert L. Henry, a representative from Texas, who 
also harmonized with Mr. Bryan's idea of a tempo- 
rary chairman. When the sub-committee met eight 
of the sixteen voted for Parker, three for James, three 
for Henry, one for Kern and one for O'Gorman. 



Kernes Position at Baltimore Convention 255 

The one vote cast for Senator Kern was not the vote 
of the Indiana member, Mr. Taggart. The Indiana 
member did not vote for Kern because the senator 
had written him personally that he did not desire the 
position. 

With this vote the fight passed to the full member- 
ship of the National Committee, and Bryan with a 
vigorous pen began a determined warfare through 
the press against the choice of the sub-committee. 
Realizing the importance of the issue, the Wilson 
followers, in view of Mr. Wilson's telegram to Bryan 
accepting the latter's view of the selection of Parker, 
withdrew the candidacy of Henry and went over to 
James. On the afternoon of the day before the full 
committee met in the evening, Bryan declared 
through the press that in the event the organization 
recommended Parker Kg would oppose him on the 
floor of the convention with another candidate. The 
issue was clean-cut. That night the full committee 
selected Parker by a vote of 32 to 20 for James and 
2 for O'Gorman. The fight was on. 

Mr. Bryan did not want to be the candidate against 
Parker. It was his plan to serve notice on the rank 
and file of the party throughout the country of the 
reactionary trend of the convention through a pow- 
erful speech he expected to make in presenting the 
name of his candidate. This he could not do were 
he himself the candidate. His first step was to ask 



256 Life of John W. Kern 

Ollie James to permit the presentation of his name, 
but having been the avowed candidate before the 
committee of the Clark forces, the managers of the 
speaker of the house objected to James being a candi- 
date. He then appealed to Senator O'Gorman, but 
found that he was pledged to Parker. Then it was 
he determined upon presenting the name of Senator 
Kern. 

There were several reasons bearing on state poli- 
tics which made the suggestion distasteful to Kern. 
He was interested in the nomination of Governor 
Marshall for the presidency, and the reasons which 
impelled the Clark forces to object to the candidacy 
of James made the idea unpleasant to the Indiana 
senator. All the various reasons were given Bryan 
in an effort to dissuade him from his plan to nomi- 
nate Kern, but without effect. Meanwhile many of 
the senator's friends became concerned over the pro- 
posal. While it did not operate in determining 
Kern's state of mind, some of these friends, antici- 
pating the long deadlock which occurred in the bal- 
loting for the presidency were convinced that should 
the convention be forced to go outside the list of 
avowed candidates no one would loom so promis- 
ingly as the Indiana senator, and they were anxious 
to prevent his prominence in connection with a fight. 
The strain told physically upon Kern. Many of his 
friends, and notably Senator Luke Lea of Tennessee, 



Kern's Position at Balti^more Convention 257 

made frequent efforts to persuade the Nebraskan to 
nominate some other man. Mr. Kern himself had 
but little hope of their success. The night before the 
convention met while dining with Lea he made this 
clear. The Tennesseean made another trip to Bryan's 
room and brought back the message that the latter 
had closed the subject with the remark, "I intend to 
nominate John to-morrow, and he will have to do 
what he thinks best about it." It was after this that 
Kern himself made a last attempt. "He left my 
room," writes Mr. Bryan to me, "late the night be- 
fore the convention without a positive reply. He 
urged me to be a candidate, but did not decide the 
question whether he would accept. Next morning I 
heard a rumor that he might put me in nomination, 
but I had explained to him that I wanted to present 
to the convention the reasons why Parker should not 
be nominated and that I could only do that in a 
speech presenting the name of some one else. Not 
hearing directly from Kern, I presented his name 
and then he played his part, and it was a very skilful 
part." 

For the story of Senator Kern's part between the 
time he left Mr. Bryan's room late that night and 
the following morning I am indebted to Mrs. Kern, 
who was at the convention. He went directly to his 
own room and told Mrs. Kern everything that had 
transpired. He was so worried that he slept none 



258 Life of John W. Kern 

that night, and his nervous condition brought on an 
illness that made sleep impossible. It was during 
that restless night that he planned his part on the 
morrow, and the first person to learn of his plans was 
Mrs. Kern, to whom he detailed his purpose early in 
the morning as he was sitting on the edge of his bed 
drawing on his shoes. With this exception he gave 
no indication of his intention. Contrary to the gen- 
eral assumption at the time that the scene in the con- 
vention that day had been planned by Mr. Bryan, 
the Commoner knew absolutely nothing about it until 
he witnessed it on the platform. "The plan was his 
own so far as I know," Mr. Bryan tells me, "and no 
actor ever did his work more perfectly." 

Looking down from the gallery upon the conven- 
tion that day one could easily imagine a storm-tossed 
sea. The excitement was intense. Great throngs fu- 
tilely beat against the doors for admission. The day 
was intensely warm. The session was rich in the 
dramatic from the moment the venerable Cardinal 
Gibbons in his scarlet robes passed down the center 
aisle for the opening invocation until the result of 
the chairmanship fight was announced. The feeling 
on the part of Bryan's enemies among the delegates 
had been intensified during the night, and there was 
some concern among the conservative and thoughtful 
lest the Commoner might be insulted so flagrantly as 
to result in a general resentment over the country. 



Kern's Position at Baltimore Convention 259 

When the familiar figure of the Commoner ap- 
peared in the convention he was given a remarkable 
ovation, and when a little later Senator Kern entered 
Bryan was given another demonstration. These ex- 
hibitions of devotion did not tend to sweeten the 
temper of his enemies, and when he appeared upon 
the platform to deliver his speech the hiss was not 
absent from the general turmoil. Seldom has the 
great orator appeared so majestic as he did in this 
fighting speech. There was something strangely 
hard, steel-like, in the man that those who had heard 
him frequently on less momentous occasions could 
not recognize. A more militant figure never faced 
a hostile crowd — and there were enough enemies in 
the convention to give it the appearance of hostility. 
Time and again he was compelled to pause by the 
hisses and imprecations, but he stood there immov- 
able like a stonewall waiting for the storm to subside 
sufficiently for him to make his voice heard above 
the din. That speech made history — more so than 
the Cross of Gold speech in 1896. With the general 
purport of the speech we are not here concerned, for 
it is well known. But we are interested that in that 
portion of the speech having to do directly with 
Senator Kern. Here he said: 

"It is only fair now that, when the hour of triumph 
has come, the song of victory should be sung by one 
whose heart has been in the fight. John W. Kern 



260 Life of John W. Kern 

has been faithful every day during these sixteen 
years. It has cost him time, it has cost him money, 
and it has cost him the wear of body and of mind. 
He has been giving freely of all that he had. Four 
years ago, v^^hen the foundation was laid for the pres- 
ent victory, it was John W. Kern who stood with me 
and helped to bring into the campaign the idea of 
publicity before the election which has now swept 
the country until even the Republican party was 
compelled by public opinion to give it unanimous 
indorsement only a few weeks ago. 

"It was John W. Kern who stood with me on that 
Denver platform that demanded the election of sen- 
ators by a direct vote of the people, when a Republi- 
can national convention had turned it down by a vote 
of seven to one, and now he is in the United States 
senate, where he is measuring up to the high expecta- 
tions of a great party. 

"He helped in the fight for the amendment au- 
thorizing an income tax, and he has lived to see a 
president who was opposed to us take that plank out 
of our platform and put it through the house and 
senate and to see thirty-four states of the union ratify 
it. And now he is leading the fight in the United 
States senate to purge that body of Senator Lorimer, 
who typifies the supremacy of corruption in politics. 

"What better man could we have to open a con- 
vention? 

"What better man could we have to represent the 
spirit of progressive Democracy?" 

As Mr. Bryan was concluding his remarkable 
speech Senator Kern appeared upon the platform. 



Kekn^s Position at Baltimore Convention 261 

No one knew his intent. And when the Commoner sat 
down, both cheered and hissed, and Kern claimed the 
recognition of the chair, a hush of expectancy fell 
upon the great convention. Throughout his speech, 
in some respects one of the most dramatic and ef- 
fective ever delivered at a national convention, he 
was given the most respectful attention. Pale and 
wan from his sleepless night, he looked frail, but his 
voice was in excellent condition, and the interest of 
the delegates in his message was so intense that little 
difficulty was found in hearing him in the most re- 
mote portions of the gallery. As he referred to the 
time in his youth when, in 1872 he attended a Demo- 
cratic national convention in Baltimore and said that 
the enthusiasm for Democracy in his young heart 
then was "no greater than that which glowed in his 
old heart now" he made a subtle appeal. His almost 
affectionate reference to his personal friendship for 
Judge Parker predisposed the followers of the New 
Yorker to a friendly attitude toward the speaker. 
And when he made his dramatic personal appeal to 
Parker, seated in the New York delegation, to join 
with him in the interest of harmony in withdrawing, 
and in deciding upon some one of numerous men he 
mentioned, the scene was almost theatrical. Here and 
there were murmurs, and Parker was seen engaged 
in earnest, animated conversation with his colleagues. 
There is no record of the nature of that conversation. 



262 Life of John W. Kern 

There can be little doubt, however, that had he been 
an absolutely free agent at that moment, with no 
sense of obligations to those who were supporting 
him, he would have responded in the spirit in which 
the proposition was submitted. With Kern standing 
in silence waiting for the hoped-for answer, with 
Parker surrounded by gesticulative men, with the 
convention growing nervous under the tension, the 
scene was almost theatrical. And when, on finding 
that Parker would not respond, Kern turned to 
Charles F. Murphy, the Tammany chief, referring 
to him as "the leader of the New Yofk Democracy, 
who holds that democracy in the hollow of his hand" 
and made the appeal to him, it was as though a bomb 
had been dropped from the ceiling. Receiving no 
response from Murphy, who sat in his seat stolid and 
unmoved, the attitude of Kern changed instantly from 
supplication to defiance, and with the declaration 
that if the contest must be "between the people and 
the powers," there was but one man to lead, and 
withdrew his own name and nominated Bryan it was 
like the startling effect of an unexpected thunder- 
bolt. This remarkable speech follows: 

"Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Conven- 
tion — I desire a hearing in order that I may state my 
reason for not desiring to enter the contest for tem- 
porary chairman of this convention. I believe that 
by forty years of service to my party I have earned 



Kern's Position at Baltimore Convention 263 

the right to a hearing at the hands of a Democratic 
convention. I hail from the state of Indiana, which 
will shortly present to this convention for its consid- 
eration the name of one of the best, truest, and most 
gallant Democrats on earth, in the person of the Hon. 
Thomas R. Marshall, the governor of that state. 

"I desire to take no part in this convention that 
will in any wise militate against him or against his 
interests, which all true Indiana Democrats this day 
loyally support. I have been for many years a per- 
sonal friend of the gentleman who has been named 
by the national committee. Many years ago, when 
Judge Parker and I were much younger than we are 
now, we met in a hotel in Europe and became warm 
personal friends. That was long before his elevation 
to the chief justiceship of the court of appeals of 
his state. Since that time I have enjoyed his friend- 
ship. He had had mine. I have accepted the hospi- 
tality of his home, and in 1904, when he was a candi- 
date for the presidential nomination, moved largely 
by that personal friendship, I enlisted under his 
standard for the nomination long before the conven- 
tion, and went through that great battle at St. Louis 
in his behalf. In that campaign, in response to a re- 
quest of Judge Parker personally made to me, I, on 
account of my friendship for him, took the standard 
of a losing cause as candidate for governor of In- 
diana, and carried it on to defeat, but I hope not an 
inglorious defeat. In 1908 Judge Parker canvassed 
in my state for vice-president. Last year when I was 
a candidate for the national ticket, on which I was a 
candidate for the senate, in the midst of a heated con- 



264 Life of John W. Keen 

test, Judge Parker traveled from New York to Indi- 
anapolis to make a speech in my behalf. 

"We have been during all these years, and are now, 
personal friends. The greatest desire of my heart is 
the hope of a Democratic victory. I attended a na- 
tional convention in Baltimore in 1872, before I had 
cast my vote, and my young heart was filled with no 
more enthusiasm for success that year than my old 
heart is now. I believe that Judge Parker is as ear- 
nestly in favor, as earnestly desirous of Democratic 
success this year as I am. 

"There are only a little over a thousand delegates 
in this convention; there are seven million Demo- 
crats between the oceans. There are millions of 
Democrats scattered from one end of this country 
to the other who at this hour are all looking with 
aching hearts upon the signs of discord that prevail 
here when there ought to be forerunners of victory 
in the shouts of this convention. Is there a man here 
who does not earnestly desire harmony to the end 
that there may be victory? 

"I am going to appeal now and here for that kind 
of harmony which will change the sadness which at 
this hour exists in millions of Democratic homes into 
shouts of joy and gladness. 

"My friend. Judge Parker, sits before me in this 
convention, he representing the national committee, 
I representing, not another faction, thank God, but 
representing perhaps another section, and we two 
men have it within our power to send these words 
of gladness flashing throughout the republic. If my 
friend will join with me now and here in the selec- 



Kern's Position at Baltimore Convention 265 

tion of a man satisfactory to us both; if he will stand 
in this presence with me and agree that that distin- 
guished New Yorker who has brought more honor 
to the Empire state in the United States senate than 
it has had since the days of Frederick Kernan — 
James A. O'Gorman — this discord will cease in a 
moment and the great Democratic party will present 
a united front. Or if he will agree that that splendid 
representative from the state of Texas in that same 
body, Charles A. Culberson shall preside, or if he 
will agree upon that splendid parliamentarian, 
Henry D. Clayton of Alabama, or if he will agree 
upon that young Tennesseean, whose name is known 
in every home where chivalry abides — Luke Lea — 
this matter will be settled in a moment. Or if he will 
agree upon the blue-eyed statesman from Ohio, Gov- 
ernor James E. Campbell; or if he will agree upon 
the reformer governor of Missouri, ex-Governor 
Folk; or if he will agree on my own colleague, the 
stalwart Democrat from Indiana, Benjamin F. 
Shively, all this discord will cease. 

"Will some one for Judge Parker, will Judge 
Parker himself, meet me on this ground and aid in 
the solution of this problem, a solution of which 
means victory to the party and relief to the taxpayers 
of the country? 

"My fellow Democrats, you will not promote har- 
mony, you will not point the way to victory, by jeer- 
ing or deriding the name of the man who led your 
fortunes in 1908. You may put him to the wheel, you 
may humiliate him here, but in so doing you will 
bring pain to the hearts of six million men in Amer- 



266 Life of John W. Kern 

ica who would gladly die for him. You may kill 
him, but you do not commit homicide when you kill 
him; you commit suicide. 

"My friends, I have submitted a proposition to 
Judge Parker; I submit it to the man, the leader of 
the New York Democracy who holds that Democ- 
racy in the hollow of his hand. What response have 
I? (A pause.) If there is to be no response, then let 
the responsibility rest where it belongs. If Alton B. 
Parker will come here now and join me in this re- 
quest for harmony, his will be the most honored of 
all the names amongst American Democrats. 

"If there is to be no response, if the responsibility 
is to rest there, if this is to be a contest between the 
people and the powers, if it is to be a contest such as 
has been described, a contest which I pray God may 
be averted, then the cause to which I belong is so 
great a cause that I am not fit to be its leader. If my 
proposition for harmony is to be ignored, and this 
deplorable battle is to go on, there is only one man 
fit to lead the hosts of progress, and that is the man 
who has been at the forefront for sixteen years, the 
great American tribune, William Jennings Bryan. 
If you will have nothing else, if that must be the 
issue, then the leader must be worthy of the cause, 
and that leader must be William Jennings Bryan." 

As Kern concluded, weak from a sleepless night 
and an enervating ailment, a friend took him by the 
arm and led him, "ashen hued and sick," as the 
press reports described his appearance, from the 
stage. He passed within arm's reach of Bryan, but 



Kernes Position at Baltimore Convention 267 

not a word was exchanged between the two, nor even 
a look. The move Kern made was as much of a sur- 
prise to Bryan as to Parker. It was not a prear- 
ranged afifair. There was no sharp practice in it. 
But it was an earnest effort of a loyal Democrat to 
pour oil upon the troubled waters and prevent a 
battle between members of the same army. As he 
spoke the expression on Bryan's face clearly denoted 
his surprise. As he proceeded the expression of sur- 
prised anxiety gradually gave way to one of satisfac- 
tion and then to frank admiration. And when he was 
led from the stage, the Commoner in a dramatic 
manner accepted the commission which had been 
handed back to him. Had Bryan been a candidate 
originally the progressives of the country would not 
have had the warning of the reactionary plot. Had 
Kern remained silent and permitted the convention 
to vote between himself and Judge Parker without 
first submitting his series of compromise proposals, 
any of which should have been acceptable, the coun- 
try might not have understood that there was a "rule 
or ruin" policy behind the men who presented 
Parker's name. Thus Kern's speech was quite as ef- 
fective and important as that of Bryan. 

Still it was not Senator Kern's purpose to embar- 
rass Judge Parker, in whose personal devotion to the 
party he had the most perfect confidence. He did 
entertain the hope that the New York jurist would 



268 Life of John W. Kern 

meet him on the ground of a general conciliation. 
But when it became apparent that Parker was so 
situated that he could not respond to what must have 
been his natural impulse, and Kern made his appeal 
to Charles F. Murphy it was not so much with the 
thought that he might accept as with the intention to 
placing the responsibility and giving it "a local habi- 
tation and a name." 

Among Kern's enemies there was a disposition to 
disseminate the idea that his action had compromised 
his personal popularity. Nothing could have been 
farther from the fact. The United Press on the fol- 
lowing day properly gauged the effect when it said 
that "Kern's efiforts to obtain harmony in his per- 
sonal appeal to Parker to withdraw in the interest 
of the party has added to his popularity among the 
men who championed Parker's cause." 

That night he saw Bryan for the first time after 
the late parting of the night before. Accompanied 
by Mrs. Kern he called at Bryan's rooms, where he 
found the Commoner in the center of his reception 
room surrounded by a crowd. Catching sight of the 
senator, Bryan broke through the crowd, his face 
wreathed in the Bryanic smile, and placing his arm 
affectionately about Kern's shoulders, he said de- 
lightedly: 

"How did you ever come to think of it? That was 
the smartest thing you ever did." 



Kern's Position at Baltimore Convention 269 

Mr. Bryan publicly expressed his view of the per- 
formance in his newspaper article of the next morn- 
ing: 

"I think the reader, when he has fully digested this 
scheme (Kern's) will admit that it is about as good 
an illustration as has been seen in many a day of the 
manner in which tact and patriotism can be com- 
bined. After I had put Senator Kern in nomination 
against Parker, he took the platform and made a 
most forcible and eloquent plea for harmony in the 
convention. He called attention to the great issues 
involved and to the importance of presenting a united 
front. He then presented a list of names. . . . He 
called upon Parker, who sat just in front of him, to 
join him in withdrawing in favor of any one of these 
men in order that the convention might operate with- 
out discord. It was a dramatic moment. Such an 
opportunity seldom comes to a man. If Parker had 
accepted it it would have made him the hero of the 
convention. There was a stir in his neighborhood 
in a moment. The bosses flocked about him, and the 
convention looked on in breathless anxiety, but he 
did not withdraw. The opportunity passed unim- 
proved. Senator Kern then appealed to Mr. Murphy 
to induce Judge Parker to withdraw, but Mr. Mur- 
phv was not in a compromising mood. This was the 
only thing that Senator Kern did, the good faith of 
which could be questioned. I am afraid that he had 
no great expectation of melting the stony heart of 
the Tammany boss. At any rate nothing came of the 
generous ofifer made by Mr. Kern except that it 



270 Life of John W. Kern 

shifted to the shoulders of Judge Parker and his 
supporters entire responsibility for any discord that 
might grow out of the contest." 

Such is the true story of Kern's part in the great 
fight over the temporary chairmanship which did 
more to determine the progressive trend of the con- 
vention than everything else combined. The defeat 
of Bryan by a small margin aroused the rank and 
file of the party everywhere, and the wires to Balti- 
more were burdened with thousands of indignant 
telegrams of protest which made a profound impres- 
sion upon the delegates and made quite impossible 
a repetition of such a fight, on such an issue, and with 
such a result. 

II 

After the country had been heard from there was 
a general disposition to give the progressives the 
right of way. Ollie James was made permanent 
chairman. And Senator Kern was made chairman 
of the committee on Resolutions. 

When the committee on Resolutions met there was 
a desire to make Mr. Bryan its chairman, but he 
refused to serve in that capacity, desiring a freer 
hand to dealing with the convention than would be 
compatible with presiding over the deliberations of 
the committee. It is significant of Senator Kern's po- 



Keen's Position at Baltimore Convention 271 

sition in the party at that hour that with Bryan's 
declination the committee turned instantly to him. 
Partly because of his physical condition he at first 
declined, but was finally prevailed upon to accept. 
The United Press gave the true reason for his unani- 
mous selection when it said that "Senator Kern was 
turned to at once as representing the progressive De- 
mocracy." It has always been customary for the com- 
mittee to report after the nomination of a candidate 
for president, but immediately after its organization 
Mr. Bryan offered a resolution providing for a re- 
port on the platform before the nomination, and urg- 
ing as a reason that no man should be nominated who 
did not square with the platform of the party. There 
was some dissent, but the resolution was passed, and 
the grind of work began at once and was incessant 
until completed. Without detracting from the im- 
portance of numerous members of the committee it 
is unquestionably true that the three men who exer- 
cised more influence perhaps than any others were 
Bryan, Senator O'Gorman and Senator Kern. 

The platform agreed upon was one of the most 
progressive on which any candidate of any party ever 
ran and was in complete accord with the views of its 
chairman. Senator Kern read the resolutions to the 
convention and moved their adoption, and they were 
accepted without a contest of any character. 



272 Life of John W. Kern 

III 
It is but proper that Senator Kern's relation to the 
presidential nomination should be disclosed, for his 
was the name that hovered over the convention con- 
stantly as the most probable compromise selection in 
the event of a hopeless deadlock. Because of the per- 
sistency of the "Kern talk" there has been from hos- 
tile quarters a tendency to question his loyalty to the 
candidacy of Governor Marshall; and during the 
prevalence of the talk The New York World's con- 
vention correspondent attempted to create the im- 
pression that the reactionary forces were working 
quietly for the nomination of the man who next to 
Bryan did more to force the convention into pro- 
gressive channels than any man in it. 

Senator Kern was as loyal as it was possible for 
man to be to the candidacy of the Indiana governor. 
He felt that Mr. Marshall had many elements of 
strength and looked upon him as a possible compro- 
mise between the two leading candidates in the event 
of a deadlock. Under these circumstances he frowned 
down any suggestion of his own name as calculated 
to weaken the prospects of Indiana's candidate by 
casting suspicion upon the sincerity of Indiana's sup- 
port. I had personal evidence of this of the most 
positive character. 

Several months before the convention, as the num- 
ber of candidates multiplied and the possibility of 



Kern's Position at Baltimore Convention 273 

complications developed, a number of prominent 
politicians of a Pacific coast state wrote Senator 
Kern expressing a desire to launch his candidacy in 
that state, and to follow it immediately with the or- 
ganization of "Kern for President" clubs. Assum- 
ing of course that a letter of such importance should 
be answered personally, I placed the letter in his 
hands. He was seated at his desk writing, and, as 
usual, smoking. He read it through carefully, a 
puzzled expression on his face, and then with a quiz- 
zical smile he handed it back. 

"Aren't you going to answer it?" he was asked. 

By this time he had resumed his writing. 

"No — you acknowledge it," he said, still writing. 

"What shall I say?" 

"Say that I am not and will not be a candidate; 
that Indiana has a candidate and one that would give 
a good account of himself." That is the kind of let- 
ter, not even bearing Kern's signature, that went 
back to men of real political potentiality on the Pa- 
cific coast. After that many other people in different 
parts of the country outside Indiana wrote along the 
same line. These letters were always shown Kern, 
but with the exception of the first one not one of these 
was read through to the end, and in every case a letter 
similar in character to the one he ordered written 
in the first instance was sent. After a while he was 
clearly annoyed and disturbed by the suggestion these 



274 Life of John W. Kern 

letters conveyed. He simply ignored them, refused 
to seriously consider them, and evidently preferred 
not to see them. 

In Indiana he had many importunate friends who 
insisted on making him a candidate against his will, 
and with these he dealt directly and always with the 
stern injunction that they do absolutely nothing that 
could possibly create the impression outside the state 
that there was any divided opinion in the state re- 
garding the position the state should take on the 
presidency. 

This dangling of a possible prize before him was 
carried to the convention on the day it met and was 
never permitted out of his range of vision up to the 
very day that Woodrow Wilson was nominated. Mr. 
Bryan tells me that one of the reasons given him by 
Kern for his opposition to being nominated for the 
temporary chairmanship was the fact that "he was 
embarrassed by the fact that he was being mentioned 
for the presidency by men in other delegations" and 
such prominence as might follow his nomination for 
the chairmanship might be falsely interpreted as a 
bid for the prize. On the second day of the conven- 
tion the Associated Press carried the story that many 
astute politicians had reached the conclusion that 
under the two-thirds rule of Democratic conventions 
none of the avowed candidates could be nominated 
and that "some of the progressives" had commenced 



Keen^s Position at Baltimore Convention 275 

to "test sentiment for Kern" and that the movement 
had "gained considerabe momentum." On that day 
it was a commonplace comment about the hotel lob- 
bies that the nominee "would be Wilson or Kern." 
And on that day men of much political importance 
in other states than Indiana began to interest them- 
selves in "testing sentiment for Kern." The theory 
of these men was that when the "conservatives" found 
they could not nominate Clark or Harmon, and the 
"progressives" learned they could not nominate Wil- 
son, both elements would find in Kern the satisfac- 
tory way out. And during that time Kern was im- 
portuned, and harassed, every hour of the day, 
dragged from the Resolutions committee to meet 
delegates anxious to vote for him, followed to his 
room at night. When the movement reached such 
proportions as to seem serious he took the position 
that as long as there was any possibility of the nomi- 
nation of any of the avowed candidates, and as long 
as there was any chance of a compromise on Mar- 
shall his name should not under any circumstances 
appear in the balloting. 

Long before the various candidates had been for- 
mally presented to the convention it required no ex- 
traordinary perspicacity on the part of veterans of 
national conventions to see that none of the avowed 
candidates could or would be nominated Without 
prolonged balloting, and that there was a strong pos- 



276 Life of John W. Kern 

sibility of a hopeless deadlock. It did not require 
many ballots to justify the fear. In the resulting dis- 
cussion of a compromise candidate or "dark horse" 
no name appeared with such frequency as that of 
Kern. Although he was constantly holding his 
friends in check this did not spare him from the sus- 
picion of some and the open criticism of others. The 
New York World sounded a "note of warning" in a 
direct charge that "the reactionaries of the conven- 
tion" were planning to throw the nomination to Sen- 
ator Kern to prevent it from going to Wilson. The 
absurdity of the assumption that "reactionaries" 
would be interested in the nomination of the pro- 
gressive leader of Indiana, who had been intimately 
identified with the reform measures of Mr. Bryan 
was not explained. The truth is that the men who 
were drawn to the Kern solution of a deadlock were 
found among members of both wings of the party. 
But the men who gave the movement impetus in the 
beginning and remained throughout the most faith- 
ful to it were progressives of the most militant stripe. 
Among them were men whose first choice were Wil- 
son, Clark, Harmon and Marshall. The Underwood 
forces alone contributed no support to the movement. 
The most active and aggressive sponsor of the Kern 
compromise idea in the event the deadlock continued 
long enough to engender bitterness was Senator Luke 
Lea of Tennessee, whose first choice was Wilson. 



Kernes Position at Baltimore Con\'ention 277 

The name of Kern appeared for the first time in 
the balloting on the third ballot when a delegate 
from Ohio went to him. After that there was scarcely 
a ballot in which he did not appear usually with one 
vote, frequently with two and sometimes with more. 
This was only significant in that it kept his name 
constantly before the convention as a way out. 

On June 29th, three days before the nomination of 
Wilson, the Associated Press carried the story of the 
"dark horse" talk and said that "the names of Kern 
and Gaynor are most frequently mentioned;" and on 
the same day the United Press announced that Kern 
would not. be a candidate until it had been clearly 
demonstrated that Wilson, Clark or Marshall could 
not be nominated, and that Indiana would then lead 
the way, to be followed by Illinois. 

During these days no man did more to hold the 
Indiana delegation together for Marshall than Sen- 
ator Kern. When on the 29th ballot Major G. V. 
Menzies of Indiana broke the solidarity of the dele- 
gation by voting for Kern no man resented it more 
than the senator, who was more embarrassed than 
flattered. To all Indianians who called upon him at 
his room with the suggestion that the "time has come 
to break from Marshall" — and there were many both 
on and off the delegation — he stubbornly refused to 
listen. The thought behind his uncompromising at- 
titude was that once the delegation broke away from 



278 Life of John W. Kern 

its instructions there was no certainty that the ma- 
jority would not ultimately find their way into the 
camp of ultra-conservativism. 

Meanwhile he was given to understand that Illi- 
nois was ready at any moment Indiana led the way 
to transfer her vote to him, and he had good reasons 
for assuming that with his consent he could have the 
support of Ohio. In the event such a "drive" had 
been undertaken, assurances were given by men of 
potentiality that Michigan would follow and that 
far western states such as Colorado and Wyoming 
would fall in line. It was a tremendous temptation 
that was placed before him, and the very incongru- 
ity of the company urging it — progressives and 
bosses — would have made it seem to one less astute 
and less given to analysis as peculiarly auspicious. 
The feeling between the followers of the two lead- 
ing candidates was hourly intensifying. The dele- 
gates were tired, and many financially embarrassed 
by the unexpected prolongation of the convention 
and were anxious to get away. If at such an hour 
and under such circumstances three such states as 
Indiana, Illinois and Ohio had bolted toward a dark 
horse, followed by Michigan and states from the far 
west and from the south, it might have resulted in a 
stampede and his nomination. It was Kern's per- 
sonal opinion that it might result in throwing the 
convention into a turmoil of uncertainty out of which 



Kern's Position at Baltimore Con\t:ntion 279 

would come the nomination of a reactionary; and 
such he believed to be the intent of some who were 
most insistent on his giving consent. He refused his 
consent. 

At no time did Mr. Bryan give any encouragement 
to those who tried to interest him in Kern as a com- 
promise candidate. This led to the silly story that 
the two former running mates had cooled toward 
one anther because "Kern had not warmed up to 
Bryan's convention propositions." It was immedi- 
ately after this story became current, at a time when 
there was much speculation as to whether the con- 
vention would be compelled to adjourn without mak- 
ing a nomination, that Mr. Bryan, in an interview 
suggesting possible compromise candidates, named 
Kern, Ollie James, Senator O'Gorman and Senator 
Culbertson as a list from which a selection might be 
made. The fact that Kern was first in the list was 
immediately seized upon as evidence of Bryan's par- 
tiality to his nomination, and that same day bets were 
offered that he would be nominated. Speaking of 
Kern, Mr. Bryan said: 

"Senator Kern of Indiana already has received the 
support of nearly six million and a half of Demo- 
crats for the vice-presidency, and since that time he 
not only has been elected to the United States senate, 
but has distinguished himself among his associates 
by the prominent part he has taken. He is the leader 



280 Life of John W. Keen 

of the fight against Senator Lorimer. If there can 
be no agreement upon any of those now being bal- 
loted for it ought to be easy to compromise on a man 
like Senator Kern." 

Then the drift toward Wilson began with the ac- 
tion of Bryan in withdrawing his vote from Clark 
because of the action of Tammany in throwing him 
its support and casting it for the New Jersey gov- 
ernor. It was the beginning of the end. On the day 
following the action of Bryan Senator Kern in a 
statement given to The Indianapolis News corre- 
spondent declared that the Indiana delegation was 
"first, last and all the time for Governor Marshall 
and had no second choice," but added that the second 
choice of the people of Indiana was probably Wil- 
son. From this time on the probability of a "dark 
horse" dwindled and the convention hurried to the 
conclusion of its work with the nomination of the 
ticket of Wilson and Marshall. 

No single man with the probable exception of 
Bryan was more instrumental in the general result 
of the Baltimore convention than John W. Kern. 

His dramatic action in the chairmanship fight had 
done more than any other one thing could to throw 
the burden of responsibility for the contest upon the 
reactionaries; his work on the committee on Reso- 
lutions made for progressivism; and his refusal un- 
der great pressure to permit the use of his name in 



Kernes Position at Baltimore Convention 281 

the convention for the purpose of breaking away 
from the avowed candidates probably made the 
nomination of Wilson possible; and the support 
given the candidacy of Governor Marshall by the 
delegation of a doubtful state like Indiana no doubt 
made his selection for the vice-presidency logical and 
inevitable. 

But the emotional conflicts through which he 
passed during those steaming days left him in a state 
of physical exhaustion from which he did not re- 
cover during the summer. 



CHAPTER XIV 

Election to the Leadership of the Senate 



THE result of the election of 191 2 was inevi- 
table from the moment Mr. Roosevelt, in a 
pique because of his rejection by the Republican 
National Convention, organized a third party and 
accepted the presidential nomination upon its ticket. 
For the first time in many years the Democrats 
awoke the morning following the election to find 
themselves overwhelmingly triumphant, with Wood- 
row Wilson elected to the presidency, the Democratic 
majority in the house greatly increased, and the Re- 
publican majority in the senate swept away. But 
long before the rank and file of the party had per- 
mitted the bonfires to smoulder, the responsible lead- 
ers had sobered into a solemn realization of the grav- 
ity of the duty they would assume after the inaugura- 
tion. The party had won by a minority vote, and the 
tenure of its power would depend upon the sincerity 
with which it met its pre-election obligations. The 
first two years of the Democratic administration 
would determine to a large extent the verdict of the 
public. The program of reformatory and construc- 
tive legislation promised in the platform and advo- 
cated by the leaders from Mr. Wilson down during 
the campaign was extensive; and it was to assume 



Election to Leadership of Senate 283 

power, after years of opposition, with the suspicion, 
carefully fostered by Republican speakers and pa- 
pers for almost half a century, that it was utterly 
lacking in the qualities of constructive statesmanship. 
More disturbing to Democrats, however, it was to 
assume power with painful memories of the schisms 
which had wrecked it during its brief tenure betAveen 
1893 and 1895. The trouble then had developed 
from the fact that the Democratic organization in 
the senate was under the domination of men who 
were not in sympathy with the party platform. And 
the meager majority in the Democratic senate served 
to accentuate the fear from this quarter. From the 
house no fear was entertained. There Champ Clark 
presided over a great majority, fresh from contact 
with the people. But in the senate, with the Repub- 
licans voting together, the disaffection of three Dem- 
ocrats on any measure would leave the Democratic 
party in a minority. And the haunting fear of those 
possible three conjured up visions of Hill, Brice and 
Smith. 

It is not an exaggeration to say that when Wood- 
row Wilson took the oath of office the fate of the 
Democratic party for at least a generation rested 
with the small majority in the senate. 

The sixty-third congress ushered into this body 
eleven new Democratic senators, and among them 
were several men of unusual capacity. New Eng- 



284 Life of John W. Kern 

land, so recently hide-bound in its republicanism, 
sent Henry HoUis of New Hampshire, a young man 
of constructive ability and progressive principles. 
New Jersey contributed a second Democrat in Wil- 
liam Hughes, a radical, and an ardent supporter of 
the new president. Little Delaware turned again to 
a distinguished Democratic family which had pre- 
viously been represented in the senate and sent Wil- 
lard Saulsbury, wiio was known to be in hearty sym- 
pathy with the Baltimore platform. From Kentucky 
appeared the eloquent OUie James, the idol of the 
progressives from coast to coast, and from Illinois 
the equally eloquent and brilliant James Hamilton 
Lewis, in whom equal confidence was felt. From 
Colorado, Governor Shafroth, a veteran in the bat- 
tles for reform; from Montana, the scholarly, clear- 
thinking and progressive Thomas J. Walsh, destined 
to become a pillar of strength to the cause he had 
always stood for; from Mississippi, James K. Varda- 
man, who had been nominated over his predecessor 
in the senate on the issue of progressivism; from 
Louisiana, Joseph E. Ransdell, concerning whom no 
fears were entertained; and from Kansas, William 
H. Thompson, uncompromisingly progressive. 

Of the eleven new Democratic senators there was 
not one whose record and principles did not harmon- 
ize with the program the party had promised the 
people in the platform adopted at Baltimore. And 



Election to Leadership of Senate 285 

the Democrats who had entered but two years before 
— men such as Kern, O'Gorman, Lea, Williams, 
Ashurst, Pomerene, Reed, Myers and Johnson — 
were looked to with equal assurance. These twenty 
men, all fresh from the people and temperamentally 
progressive in their principles, together with some 
of the older senators in point of service, like Shively 
of Indiana and Stone of Missouri, were expected by 
the rank and file to hold the Democratic senate true 
to the Democratic platform, and to sustain the presi- 
dent in his program. 

The short and last session of the sixty-second con- 
gress was unimportant in regard to legislation and 
senators, especially on the Democratic side, gave 
themselves up largely to personal and party politics. 
The Republicans could only sit back and wait. To 
Democrats, and especially they who had entered two 
years before, the future organization of the senate 
was the matter of prime importance. The newly 
elected men who were to be sworn in on March 4th 
came and went. Without exception they entered 
heartily into the views of the militantly progressive 
element that the logic of the situation called for a 
reorganization, with a new leader and new rules that 
would make legislation more responsive to the popu- 
lar will. The congress had not been in session two 
days before the determination had been reached to 
challenge the old regime in the coming caucus by 



286 Life of John W. Kern 

presenting a candidate in opposition to the re-elec- 
tion of Senator Martin to the leadership. Even be- 
fore the congress had convened some of the leaders 
in the new movement had been in communication 
with the newly elected senators and a day or two of 
canvassing among the older members convinced 
them that a new leader could and should be chosen. 

In all of these preliminary maneuvers and confer- 
ences Senator Kern had no part, and he was so occu- 
pied until after the holiday recess with the trial of 
the Structural Iron Workers in the Federal Court 
at Indianapolis that he had no time for seriously 
considering the reorganization of the senate. He had 
been retained for the defense at a time when there 
was no reason for assuming that the trial would 
stretch out until December, but he was unable to 
make his closing argument until after the congres- 
sional recess. 

The first indication he had that the reorganization 
movement had again been started and that his name 
was being considered in connection with the leader- 
ship came in the form of a telegram from one of the 
leaders to the efifect that the former opposition to 
the old regime had "been strengthened by recruits," 
that these, with the new senators, would be "suf- 
ficient to elect," and asking for personal assurance 
of Kern's co-operation in the movement and of his 
willingness to accept the chairmanship of the com- 



Election to Leadership of Senate 287 



mittee on Committees. It was characteristic of Sen- 
ator Kern that he wired the assurance of his co- 
operation in the movement and gave no encourage- 
ment to the proposal to elect him to the leadership. 
This telegram was sent just one week after the open- 
ing of the short session. 

On Sunday evening, the latter part of February, 
about thirty of the fifty-one Democratic members of 
the senate met in conference at the home of Senator 
Luke Lea on Massachusetts avenue to determine 
upon their candidate for the leadership. At this 
meeting the qualifications of several men were con- 
sidered, and one by one all were eliminated untiU^ 
only Senator Kern remained. No effort had been 
made to secure support for him, nor was he present 
at the conference. Thus without even expressing a 
desire for the position he was selected unanimously 
by the conferees after a process of elimination. 

Never before in the history of the senate had any , 
member been called to the leadership of the majority I 
of that body after only two years of service in it. 
There were many reasons entering into the selection. 
The first qualification and the one of prime impor- 
tance was that the leader should be known nationally 
as a progressive in complete harmony with the Balti- 
more platform and with the program of the incom- 
ing president. No member of the senate met these 
requirements more fully. His entire life politically 



288 Life of John W. Kern 

was in harmony with the program, and he had been 
chairman of the committee on Resolutions at the 
national convention. 

In this qualification he did not stand alone. But 
there were other requirements. With such a meager 
majority, when the disaffection of three Democrats 
might wreck the party program and renew the dis- 
aster of the second Cleveland administration, noth- 
ing was more essential than the possession of infinite 
tact. This he was known to possess in a marked de- 
gree. And along with tact, ineffable patience. 

During the two years succeeding the inauguration 
the program of the administration could have been 
hopelessly wrecked and the party discredited as a 
constructive force through the impetuosity of a hot- 
headed leader, or one unable to restrain his impa- 
tience or disgust. Senator Joseph W. Bailey, one of 
the most brilliant senators in half a century, once 
frankly admitted his unfitness for the leadership on 
that account. The conditions called for a conciliator, 
and here personal popularity was important. No one 
was more generally popular than Kern. And along 
with his tact, patience and popularity, his reputation 
for hard common sense and practicability operated to 
make his election more feasible than that of any one 
else. And his forty years of unselfish service to his 
party gave assurance that with him charged with re- 
sponsibility there would be no successful surprise at- 



Election to Leadership of Senate 289 

tacks of the opposition because of any slackening of 
vigilance. 

The announcement that the conference had been 
held and Senator Kern determined upon as the can- 
didate of the "new deal" element practically ended 
the contest. It was not a secret that President Wilson 
would be entirely satisfied to risk his measures in the 
senate under his leadership. Five days after the 
thirty senators met at the home of Senator Lea the 
announcement was made that Senator Martin would 
not be a candidate for re-election. And when the 
caucus met, on March 5th, Senator Kern was unani- 
mously elected. 

In his first act as leader of the Democratic ma- 
jority, the appointment of the committee on Com- 
mittees, popularly known as the Steering committee, 
which is charged with the general formulation of the 
policies and program, he gave evidence of the con- 
ciliatory tone his leadership would assume. He 
might have packed the committee with radicals, but 
that would have been a challenge, and his course 
throughout was to be one of conciliation. Senator 
Martin was appointed along with Senator Clark of 
Arkansas to represent the conservatives, but with 
Chamberlain, Owen, O'Gorman, Hoke Smith, Lea 
and Thomas the committee was safely progressive. 
The revolutionary nature of the selections, however, 
appeared in the fact that of the nine members Kern, 



290 Life of John W. Kern 

O'Gorman and Lea had only been in the senate two 
years, Hoke Smith less than two years, and Thomas 
had just taken his seat — five of the nine being new 
figures. Thus from the first step the old, superannu- 
ated and unpopular rule of seniority which in the 
days of the.A_ldrich domination a few men were able 
to control legislation and to a large degree effect the 
usefulness of members through committee assign- 
ments, was made the object of attack. If the rule of 
"seniority" was not destroyed in 1913 it was so badly 
shattered that it could easily have been given the 
finishing stroke. 

In the appointment of the committees the tact of 
Senator Kern and his co-workers on the committee 
was noted by the Review of Reviews. His first pur- 
pose was to make the personnel of the important com- 
mittees safely progressive, and after that to come as 
nearly satisfying or reconciling everybody as pos- 
sible. This presented a seemingly impossible puzzle. 
Men who under the old regime and methods would 
have stepped without a struggle into coveted places 
found themselves compelled to choose between im- 
portant assignments instead of taking both. /During 
the time the committee was at work Sena-tor Kern 
was pulled and hauled and importuned by senators 
who threatened in some instances and sulked in 
others. At times the task of organizing the senate 
for business without creatine animosities that would 



Election to Leadership of Senate 291 

seriously disturb the unity essential to Democratic 
achievement seemed hopeless. But Kern's tact, per- 
suasion and hard common sense prevailed over all 
difficulties, and when the work was completed every 
senator with one exception expressed satisfaction 
with the arrangement. This one exception was Sen- 
ator Bacon of Georgia, who wished to hold two cov- 
eted places — the chairmanship of the committee on 
Foreign Relations and the position of president pro 
tem. He was given the more important chairman- 
ship, and Senator Clark of Arkansas, an ultra con- 
servative, was made president pro tem. /However, 
such was the tact and kindliness of Senator Kern, 
who greatly admired the exceptional ability of the 
venerable Georgian that the latter soon forgot his 
disappointment. 

In making the committee assignments the rule of 
seniority was set aside without compunction when it 
seemed necessary to making the senate progressive. 
There was no disposition to punish the ultra-conserv- 
atives or to humiliate them in any way. Because he 
was, at the time, looked upon as holding high pro- 
tective views, there was a clamor among the radical 
tariff reformers against permitting Senator Sim- 
monds, the ranking Democratic member of the 
Finance committee, to serve as its chairman. He 
was appointed chairman, but with Stone of Missouri, 
Williams of Mississippi, Johnson of Maine, Shively 



292 Life of John W. Kern 

of Indiana, Gore of Oklahoma, Smith of Georgia, 
Thomas of Colorado, James of Kentucky and 
Hughes of New Jersey — all progressives and low- 
tariff men — upon the committee with him. 

A new committee on Banking and Currency was 
created with Senator Owens as chairman and com- 
posed of men holding progressive views on currency 
legislation. This committee, instantly recognized as 
significant in view of the president's campaign ad- 
vocacy of currency reform, was to stand sponsor for 
the Federal Reserve system, conceded to be the great- 
est piece of constructive legislation in half a century. 

Another new committee was created to handle 
Woman's Suffrage legislation, and the liberal atti- 
tude of the new senate leaders toward the woman's 
movement was shown in the appointment of Senator 
Thomas, an ardent advocate of suflfrage to the chair- 
manship, and the friendly attitude of the majority of 
the senators composing it. This within itself indi- 
cated a radical change in the spirit of the senate, 
which had always before been prone to make short 
shift of bills and resolutions dealing with the suf- 
frage question. 

The election of Senator Kern as caucus chairman 
was the first sign that a new senate had been created; 
the announcement of the committee assignments was 
second, and this attracted wide attention and much 
discussion in the press. The Literary Digest found 



Election to Leadership of Senate 293 

that "the reorganization of the senate has been ac- 
complished in a way paralleling the overturn of Can- 
nonism in the house by the practical abolition of the 
seniority rule in making up committees." The Brook- 
lyn Eagle, The Washington Times and The Wash- 
ington Herald made the point that the senate had 
really become the more radical of the two branches of 
the congress. The Springfield Republican and The 
Providence Journal commended "the throwing of¥ 
of the customary control of a perpetual succession 
based on seniority of service." And Senator Kern in 
giving to the press his own interpretation of the ac- 
tion of the steering committee said it was the inten- 
tion to make the senate "Democratic not only in name 
but in practical results." 

That, however, did not conclude the Democracri- 
zation of the senate, for new rules were adopted 
which deprived chairmen of the arbitrary control 
over legislation which had been their portion during 
the long period of Aldrich-Hale rule. These rules 
provided that a majority of the committee might 
call the committee together at any time for the con- 
sideration of any pending bill; that a majority of the 
majority members might name sub-committees to 
consider pending measures and report to the full 
committee; and that a majority of the majority mem- 
bers might name members to confer with the house 
conferees on any bill on which the two houses might 



294 Life of John W. Kern 

disagree. Strangely enough the adoption of these 
significant new rules which struck at the root of the 
evils of the old system failed to make much of an 
impression upon the press, which for the most part, 
passed them by without comment. The Review of 
Reviews, however, caught the significance and said 
that "even more significant than the personal changes 
which bring a new set of men into control of a body 
so recently managed by the extreme conservatives of 
both parties are the changes in the rules." 

The system thus displaced had long been recog- 
nized among progressives familiar with its mode of 
operation as sinister in the extreme. The chairman 
of a committee could indefinitely postpone action on 
any bill which did not appeal to him by refusing to 
call the committee together for its consideration. 

If he did finally call the committee he had the 
autocratic power to name a sub-committee for its 
consideration packed with its enemies, who could be 
depended upon to bring in an unfavorable report. 
More sinister still, perhaps, was his power to select 
the conferees in the case of a disagreement between 
the two houses because the measure as passed by the 
senate could be radically altered in conference and 
completely changed from the form in which it left 
the senate and could only be rejected or accepted 
without amendment on its resubmission to the senate. 

The new senate really deprived the chairman of a 



Election to Leadership of Senate 295 

committee of any real power in excess of that of any 
of his colleagues on the committee and reduced him 
to the harmless status of a presiding officer. 

Thus the election of Senator Kern to the leader- 
ship of the majority at the beginning of the first Wil- 
son administration, with all that followed in keeping 
with the meaning of that selection, marked a revolu- 
tionary change in the United States senate, broke 
down the fetish of the seniority rule, smashed super- 
annuated precedents and traditions, made difficult if 
not impossible the domination of the body by a small 
coterie of men entrenched in powerful chairman- 
ships, and did more toward the democratization of 
the senate than had been done in half a century., And, 
what was more remarkable, it was all done with such 
tact and fairness that within a week the Democratic 
majority, small as it w^as, presented to the opposition 
a solid front prepared to make good the progressive 
pledges of the Baltimore platform and the pre-elec- 
tion speeches of President Wilson. How faithfully 
and effectively and unselfishly Senator Kern did his 
work during the four years of his leadership and 
especially during the first two years which were 
crowded as never before in history with vitally im- 
portant constructive legislation will be discussed 
later in a single chapter. 



CHAPTER XV 

Kern's Fight Against Feudalism in 
West Virginia 

SCARCELY had Senator Kern assumed the lead- 
ership of the senate until he was engaged in the 
most notable and bitter battle of his career against 
the feudalism of the coal barons of West Virginia. 
His resolution for a senatorial investigation into the 
conditions in the Paint Creek district where anarchy 
was apparently in full flower, with the constitutional 
guaranties of citizens brushed aside, and men being 
tried for their lives by drumhead courtmartials while 
the civil courts were open, was the signal for the mar- 
shaling of an army of opposition embracing railroads, 
coal operators, bankers, all the powerful moneyed 
interests. Never before in history, in a distinct fight 
between the working classes on the one side and the 
great interests on the other, had the masses won in 
the senate. Never before had a senator just assum- 
ing leadership so audaciously challenged defeat. And 
he won. 

But to appreciate the significance of his triumph 
it is necessary to record something of the ineffable 
inhumanity of the industrial feudalism which had 
been established through the employment of armies 
of gunmen, the subsidization of the press, the prosti- 



Kern's Fight Against Feudalism 297 

tution of the courts, the cringing sycophancy of poli- 
ticians, and the organization of bi-partisan political 
machines to meet the demands of greed. 

It must be a startling story — a story of greed fat- 
tening upon the hunger of children, of the tramp- 
ling of inalienable rights, of the kicking to death of 
unborn babes by brutes untouched by the law, of the 
murder of women, and the shooting of unarmed men 
in the night — a story of tyranny and brutality as in- 
famous and cruel as was ever born of the dynasty of 
the Romanoffs. 

And this story, which shocked the most conserva- 
tive members of the senate, and shamed a republic, 
must be told primarily because the American people 
have been told too little of it. And it must be told in 
the story of Kern as an illumination of his political 
character and as an explanation of the bitter hostility 
with which his course was viewed by such a large 
portion of "our best people" in his own state. 

The story of the "Kern Resolution" is the story of 
Kern. But behind the resolution itself is a story that 
must be told if we are to understand the full sig- 
nificance of it. 

I 

Coal has been the crown and the crime of West 
Virginia. The second state in the union in its de- 
posits of coal, the industrial, social and political life 
of the commonwealth revolves about the mine. Un 



298 Life of John W. Kern 

til a few years ago there was no organization among 
the miners. They were industrial slaves. The liv- 
ing conditions under which they worked were hor- 
rible beyond description. They had no rights that the 
coal barons were bound to respect, and none that the 
civil authorities apparently cared to enforce. In the 
Paint Creek and Cabin Creek sections in the county 
of the state capital these conditions existed for years. 
They were robbed of the full fruit of their labors by 
a system which denied them the privilege of having 
a representative in the weighing of the coal they pro- 
duced. Compelled to live in the cottages of the com- 
panies, they were charged unreasonable rentals for 
impossible huts. Forced to purchase their food from 
the company stores, they were made to pay on an 
average of thirty per cent more for the food necessi- 
ties of life than were being charged at independent 
stores. 

From their meager pay the companies deducted 
every month $6 for rent, $i for coal, $i for a physi- 
cian, 20 cents as a hospital fund, 50 cents for the 
blacksmith, 80 cents per gallon for miners' oil, and 
for various other things approximating an average 
of $1 1.05 each month. By the time the miner with a 
family had paid all this and for the bare necessities 
of life he was usually in debt to the company. Thus 
a form of peonage — peonage in reality if not in the 
legal sense — was established. These men were slaves. 



Kern's Fight Against Feudalism 299 

It was the game of the companies to keep them 
slaves. They thought it paid better than to have free 
men. And to this end these companies perfected a 
remarkable organization to prevent the unionization 
of the miners. This organization was known as 
"mine guards," and the miners were compelled to pay 
the bills. These guards were furnished by the Bald- 
win-Felts agency and were composed largely of 
the scourings of the slums of cities. These gun-men 
had no legal status but the miners were forced to rec- 
ognize their authority — and their authority was a gun. 

The pretext for the use of these armed thugs was 
the protection of the mines, the purpose was to pre- 
vent the organizers of the United Mine Workers 
from entering the field, to prohibit newspaper men 
from visiting the camps and exposing the infamy, to 
forbid the miners from exercising their constitutional 
right to meet in peaceful assembly for the discussion 
of their wrongs. The purpose was to Siberianize 
West Virginia. And the purpose was met. 

They were there to terrorize over the miners, to 
panhandle newspaper men and beat up the organizers 
of the United Mine Workers — and they did their 
work with a zest. 

These guards met the trains regularly and every 
organizer of the United Mine Workers understood 
that if he left the train he did so at the peril of his 
life. This condition existed for years within a few 



300 Life of John W. Kern 

miles of the state capital, within little more than two 
hundred miles of the capital of the republic and was 
known to exist. The rifif-rafif of the scums of the 
cities, reeking with rotten whisky and armed with 
guns, held high carnival, panhandling organizers, 
terrorizing miners, insulting women and children, 
and they did it with impunity. 

And the reason was that popular government had 
broken down and had been displaced by the feudal- 
ism of the coal barons and their allies. To control 
the labor market, to dictate the laws, to interpret 
the laws, the mine owners entered politics and be- 
came the bosses. Such, in a general way, was the con- 
dition in the mine sections of West Virginia when 
the supreme fight came in 191 2. 



An hour's ride from Charlestown, in the Kanawa 
mountain, are two ragged gulches eight miles apart 
and divided by a sharp ridge. One is the Cabin 
Creek mining settlement, and the other the Paint 
Creek settlement. A decade or more before the trou- 
ble of 191 2 the miners along Cabin Creek had, after 
much travail, been organized, but an ill-advised 
strike had wrought their ruin and resulted in the 
restoration of the old non-union conditions aggra- 
vated now by the hate born of the victory over them. 
This settlement had come to be known as "Russia." 



Kern's Fight Against Feudalism 301 

The mine owners had here established an ideal feu- 
dalism. They owned everything in sight but the 
country road, which was the bed of a creek. Thus it 
was practically impossible to visit Cabin Creek with- 
out trespassing on company ground and being 
roughly handled by the whisky-crazed gun-men 
called "guards." A miner or his family could only 
call at the shack of a neighbor by sufTrance, since he 
could not reach the neighbor's house without tres- 
passing on company property. Here the gun-men 
were supreme. The men were slaves in all but name. 
They submitted to being robbed of the fruit of their 
labor, to extortion in the matter of rental and in the 
purchase of food in the company stores, and organ- 
izers of the miners understood that he who ventured 
into Cabin Creek would probably be carried out 
upon a stretcher. 

The miners of Paint Creek had been organized, but 
in the spring of 191 2 the coal barons determined to 
extend the feudalism of Cabin Creek across the 
ridge. The opportunity came when the time for the 
signing of a new contract was reached. In the con- 
ference between the miners and the operators at 
Charlestown the miners submitted many demands, 
all of a kind conceded in other mining states such as 
Indiana and Illinois, but after more than a week the 
operators refused to sign. In the interest of indus- 
trial peace the miners thereupon agreed to continue 



302 Life of John W. Kern 

under the old contract with the old prices and condi- 
tions, provided the operators would agree to the full 
recognition of the union. This, too, was refused, and 
a strike was ordered. Within ten days the miners 
were asked to meet with representatives of the coal 
companies in an efifort to adjust the difference, and 
this, agreed to by the miners, resulted in a further 
compromise and the signing of a contract by the op- 
erators and the miners. The operators almost imme- 
diately broke faith, the strike was renewed and the 
fight was on. The issue was clear from the begin- 
ning — whether or not the conditions in Cabin Creek 
domineered over by drunken gun-men, should be 
established in Paint Creek. 

The representatives of feudalism acted quickly. 
Almost immediately Paint Creek was invaded by the 
gun-men, headed by the infamous and murderous 
Ernest Gaujot, the "King Guard," a man with a crim- 
inal record, with machine guns, plenty of ammuni- 
tion and searchlights. Thugs, gun-men and thieves 
were hastily scoured from the scums of the cities, 
supplied with whisky and guns and turned loose 
upon the miners and their families. The program 
was to terrorize the miners into surrender. In the 
darkness of the night the gun-men fired the Gatling 
guns for practice. They swaggered in their drunken 
insolence into the homes of the unarmed miners, leer- 



Kernes Fight Against Feudalism 303 

ingly speculated aloud on what a good target the 
master of the house would make, turned everything 
upside down, kicked and cuffed the children, ordered 
drink and food, and let loose the flood gates of pro- 
fanity and vulgarity in the presence of the women 
and babes. Nothing so nearly resembling anarchy 
has ever been seen on American soil. These drunken 
brutes invaded the home of a miner by the name of 
Frank Russe, and finding no one at home but the 
wife, who was about to become a mother, they slapped 
her face and drove her from the house. But the crime 
of that time that cries to heaven and curses the civ- 
ilization that permitted the criminal to live, was 
committed at the home of Tony Sevilla, who was in 
Ohio at the time in search of work. The unspeak- 
able Gaujot and his gang searched the house, and 
after they had gone a neighboring woman, knowing 
that Mrs. Sevilla was in a delicate condition, hurried 
over to find her on her knees, an expression of agony 
upon her face, making the sign of the cross. Point- 
ing to her side, where one of the gun-men protectors 
of feudalism had kicked her, she moaned in broken 
English: "I don't hear my baby calling me now." 
They had murdered the unborn babe and mother 
and were permitted to go on with their murderous 
work. No one was arrested for that! No one was mo- 
lested for that! That was two hundred miles from 



304 Life of John W. Kern 

the capital of the republic, in the county of the cap- 
ital of an American state, and in the twentieth cen- 
tury of Christian civilization. 

And the barons were satisfied. They wanted quick 
action. The guards were instructed to throw the 
miners out of their homes without mercy. Women 
about to become mothers, the sick, the babes, were 
driven shelterless into the fields. The miners estab- 
lished a tented camp at Holly Grove at the mouth of 
the creek and another at Mossey, near its headwaters. 
At Mucklow, near by, the guards — Gaujot's men — 
were established. And when the miners, driven to 
desperation by the prodding of the guards, twice 
attacked the Mucklow camp, the papers of Charles- 
town contained lurid accounts of the brutal and 
bloodthirsty attacks of the anarchistic miners upon 
the representatives of law and order personified by 
Gaujot. There was much sympathy for the operators. 
It looked as though the miners were whipped — that 
America would be driven out of Paint Creek and 
Russia established. 

Ill 

On July 6 an old woman alighted from the train in 
Charlestown. She had now reached her eighty-third 
year and during the greater part of her life she had 
been the heart and center of the great industrial bat- 
tles of the country. The country had come to know 
her as "the angel of the miners," and her boys, as she 



Kernes Fight Against Feudalism 305 

called the miners, as "Mother" Jones. For years she 
had gone where men had not dared to venture. She 
had faced guns, thwarted conspiracies, partaken of 
bull-pen fare, but, as this gray-haired old woman 
with a grandmotherly face, she was planning for the 
greatest battle of her life. She knew the West Vir- 
ginia coal fields and the conditions. She had been 
there before. And she realized that the representa- 
tives of feudalism were preparing to exterminate 
unionism and establish gun-men rule in Paint Creek 
as across the ridge. She was a strategist. She had 
no faith in defensive warfare. She proposed to force 
the fighting, to sustain unionism in Paint Creek and 
carry it across the ridge. 

Having decided upon this counter movement she 
quietly arranged for an initial demonstration that 
would awaken the public to what was going on. One 
day the city of Charlestown was startled to see an old 
woman leading three thousand miners through the 
streets to the state house, and bearing banners to the 
effect that the gun-men had to go. The men were 
sober and orderly — she had seen to that. Governor 
Glasscock saw her. She served notice upon him. 
Calling attention to the inscription in front of the 
state house, "Mountaineers are Always Free," she 
told the governor that the boast would be made to 
stand the test of reality. And she gave the governor 
twenty-four hours to get rid of the gun-men. And 



306 Life of John W. Kern 

if the state failed to rid the mining region of these 
guards she told him boldly that the miners would. 
The gun-men did not go in twenty-four hours. It was 
now evident that the state, organized for the protec- 
tion of society, would not intervene and rid the com- 
monwealth of these ruffian mercenaries. The miners 
determined that they would no longer be terrorized, 
beaten, robbed, their wives and daughters should no 
longer be insulted and cuffed about, their constitu- 
tional rights no longer disregarded. And while 
they had no thought in the beginning of civil war 
they now proceeded to arm themselves — to do for 
themselves what the state had refused to do for them. 
In less than three weeks after "Mother" Jones had 
served notice on the governor, the miners, infuriated 
at the prodding of the gun-men, entrenched at Muck- 
low, moved upon the stronghold of the enemy with 
such fury that the pitched battle resulting left the 
guards in danger of annihilation. The state now 
became alarmed. This was serious. And the gov- 
ernor hurried the state militia to the scene in special 
trains. The militia now proceeded to disarm both 
sides. 

During the first week in August, "Mother" Jones, 
taking her life in her hands, invaded Cabin Creek, 
and in the early afternoon called a meeting of the 
miners at Eskdale. 

And that afternoon she organized them into the 



Keen's Fight Against Feudalism 307 

union and swore them to the oath of the United Mine 
Workers. The men were instantly discharged and 
told to "go to 'Mother' Jones for work." A week 
later another meeting was held at Eskdale and when 
eighty Baldwins attempted to prevent the meeting 
they were put to flight by five hundred armed miners. 
This was followed by evictions, and West Virginia 
was in a state of civil war. 

To the gun-men and the coal barons "Mother" 
Jones became a pet abomination. The brutal treat- 
ment accorded her by the guards has seldom been 
equaled in the case of a woman. Meanwhile martial 
law had been declared. 

Realizing the necessity of informing and arousing 
the country on the conditions, "Mother" Jones left 
for a speaking tour which included the city of Wash- 
ington. It was unnecessary. The operators had 
planned something much better for that purpose. 

IV 

The miners' tented camp at Holly Grove had be- 
come an eyesore to the representatives of feudalism. 
They determined to wipe it out and thus terrorize the 
strikers into submission. Their plan was diabolical, 
medieval in its brutality. An armored train was 
equipped at Huntington, W. Va., for the purpose. 
On the night of February 7, 1913, the special crew 
went aboard. 



308 Life of John W. Kern 

The miners were peacefully in their tents or houses 
that night, many asleep, when between ten and eleven 
o'clock the armored train moved slowly at a speed 
of about seven miles an hour through Holly Grove 
pouring a fusillade of bullets upon the unsuspecting 
and unprepared inhabitants. Cesco Estep, who was 
sitting with his family by the fire when the shooting 
began, called upon his family to take refuge in the 
cellar and led the way. He fell dead a few feet from 
the cellar door. His wife, who was about to become 
a mother, fled for her life. One woman was shot in 
the feet. About fifteen shots passed through the 
Estep house, which sheltered women and children 
that night. The woman was shot in her own home. 
Bullets passed through many houses and tents, setting 
fire to a store, and the marvel was that many were 
not murdered. The miners, as quickly as they could 
recover from their surprise, in a few instances re- 
turned the fire, and this was the occasion for much 
indignation in the capital, where it was understood 
that the miners had brutally attacked an armored 
train. The train passed on and was dismounted in 
the C. & O. shops in Richmond. This incident was 
something novel in the history of industrial warfare 
in America. 

V 

The following evening "Mother" Jones went to 
Hansford to see what arrangements had been made 



Kernes Fight Against Feudalism 309 

for the burial of the murdered man and what could 
be done for the widow and orphans. The miners 
there, expecting a visit from the train later, had taken 
precautions to prepare. There was some excitement. 
Later that evening "Mother" Jones went to Charles- 
town. Meanwhile troops had been sent into the min- 
ing section, martial law had been declared, and 
miners were being arrested in numbers. Hearing of 
the intense excitement at a mining camp known as 
Bloomer, where the majority of the miners were Ital- 
ians, "Mother" Jones called a meeting there with the 
view to preventing them from taking extreme meas- 
ures. The excitement was so intense that she ad- 
journed the meeting until the next morning at Long 
Acre, a few miles distant. Having impressed them 
with the thought that lawlessness would be a play 
into the hands of the enemy, she had them select a 
committee to call upon the governor with a request 
for the release of their fellow workers. She paid 
their fares to Charlestown. When she reached 
Charlestown she was taken into custody by local offi- 
cers, taken to a justice of the peace court where a 
warrant was sworn out against her, conveyed across 
the river to a C. & O. train, carried twenty-two miles 
into the martial law zone, and turned over to the mili- 
tary authorities. There this venerable woman was 
placed in a room in the house of a poor miner where 
the only furniture in the room was a small lounge, on 



310 Life of John W. Kern 

which she slept, a small table and two rocking chairs, 
with no wash bowl. For eight weeks, day and night, 
two or three militiamen marched around the house 
keeping guard. No one was permitted to see her. 
Newspaper men were especially taboo. 

And she was to be tried before a drumhead court- 
martial, with all the civil courts open, on a charge of 
murder! Others were included in the charge. The 
miners who had fled from Holly Grove to Hans- 
ford after the attack, had set out to capture a ma- 
chine gun near Mucklow, and in the pitched battle 
the bookkeeper of a coal company was killed. There 
was no concern over the murder of Estep. The kill- 
ing of the bookkeeper was followed by the arrest of 
more than a hundred miners — and "Mother" Jones. 

VI 

We now enter upon the most startling feature of 
the feudalism of West Virginia in the coal districts. 
It was soon made evident to the thoughtful that the 
system was in position to enforce darkness. With 
pitched battles, armored trains, murdered women, 
there was little or nothing about it in the press of the 
country. But when the story that a woman of the 
celebrity of "Mother" Jones, loved by millions among 
the toilers, was to be tried for her life before a drum- 
head courtmartial was told in less than a dozen lines, 
the system made a fatal blunder. That little light 



Kern's Fight Against Feudalism 311 

illumined the darkness. Senator Kern, reading these 
few lines in the Washington Post, expressed his 
amazement to those in his office that so little informa- 
tion was furnished. Far out in San Francisco, Fre- 
mont Older, the fighting editor of The Bulletin, who 
had been one of the leaders in the movement that de- 
stroyed the Schmitz boodle brigade and sent Abe 
Reuf to the penitentiary, talked it over with his clever 
wife and decided that she should go at once to West 
Virginia and ascertain by personal observation the 
occasion for the silence. The story of Mrs. Older 
was soon told in Collier's Weekly — a brief, gripping, 
startling story of an unthinkable situation for 
America. 

The darkness gave such light that magazines took 
steps to secure articles concerning an unparalleled 
condition. Harold E. West's startling story of "Civil 
War in West Virginia" appeared in The Survey in 
early April. An even more amazing story from M. 
Michelson, under the satiric title, ''Sweet Land of 
Liberty," appeared in the May number of Every- 
body's Magazine. Collier's Weekly gave its read- 
ers Mrs. Older's story about the middle of April. 
The country began to wonder — and to wait. 

Meanwhile the most dangerous and startling evil 
in the situation — the power of the governor to tram- 
ple upon the constitutional rights of the people of his 
state, to ignore the civil courts when they were in 



312 Life of John W. Kern 

session, and try men and women for their lives by a 
military tribunal — was vigorously contested in the 
Supreme Court of Appeals in the now famous habeas 
corpus cases of Mays and Nance and a little later in 
the cases of Jones, Boswell, Batley and Paulson. The 
constitution of West Virginia was explicit and em- 
phatic on the point, but the court decided that the 
constitutional rights of citizens could be brushed 
aside. A more remarkable decision has probably 
never been handed down by any American tribunal. 
How remarkable the world was permitted to under- 
stand through the vigorous and indignant dissenting 
opinion of Judge Ira E. Robinson. 

And yet for three months this military tribunal sat 
at Pratt on Paint Creek sending men to the peniten- 
tiary and jail and fixing penalties in many cases in 
excess of those fixed by the statute with the approval 
of the then Governor Glasscock. 

It was long after her release that "Mother" Jones 
found that she had been sentenced to the penitentiary 
for five years and that several of the men had been 
sentenced to twenty years. She went back to her 
prison. 

VII 

Senator Kern introduced his famous Paint Creek 
resolution in the senate, on the request of representa- 
tives of the United Mine Workers, on April 12, 19 13. 



Kern's Fight Against Feudalism 313 

He did not at that time have the slightest idea of the 
tremendous importance of his act. The disclosures 
made to him were so unusual as to convince him that 
light could do no harm, and his confidence in the 
judgment of William B. Wilson, then secretary of 
labor in the cabinet of the president, who had intro- 
duced a similar resolution in the House, and of Sen- 
ator Borah, who had presented such a resolution in 
the Senate in the preceding session, was such that he 
did not hesitate in acceding to the request. But he 
was not to be left long in the dark as to the signifi- 
cance attached to his resolution by many of the most 
powerful financial elements in the country. The 
original resolutions directed that an investigation 
should be instituted to ascertain whether or not a 
system of peonage was maintained in the coal fields 
of West Virginia; whether or not access to the post- 
offices in these coal fields was ever denied miners, 
and if so, by whom; whether or not the immigration 
laws of the country were being violated; in the event 
that any such conditions existed, what could be done 
to remedy them, whether the commissioner of labor 
or any other government official could be of service 
in adjusting the strike, and whether or not parties 
were being convicted and punished in violation of 
the laws of the United States. This resolution was 
offered on April 12. The following six weeks were 



314 Life of John W. Kern 

to astonish the senator in the disclosures of the re- 
sources and ramifications of the representatives of 
feudalism in West Virginia. 

Taking its natural course the resolution went first 
to the committee of the senate on contingent ex- 
penses, and here the system first became active. One 
of the operators of West Virginia, a former member 
of the senate, wired former colleagues protesting any 
investigation. It was sixteen days before the com- 
mittee submitted back a favorable report with certain 
amendments, and while there was nothing on the sur- 
face during these sixteen days to indicate that a bitter 
battle was being fought, it was impressed upon Sen- 
ator Kern in many ways. It was not until May 9, or 
twenty-seven days after the resolution was presented, 
that the resolution really got before the senate in 
shape for discussion. Meanwhile the author of the 
resolution was learning things concerning conditions 
in the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek region. Letters 
and telegrams by the hundreds poured in upon him 
from people in all walks of life familiar with those 
conditions, miners, merchants, lawyers, school teach- 
ers, telegraph operators, former legislators, and the 
striking feature of these letters was the request that 
their names be protected from publicity. The mer- 
chant frankly feared a boycott, the lawyer social 
ostracism, the teacher a discharge from his position, 
the operator the blacklist of the railroad, the former 



Kern's Fight Against Feudalism 315 

officials political destruction, but all united in one 
common story — a story of such unthinkable lawless- 
ness and cruelty as to be almost past belief. News- 
paper men who had attempted to enter the field to 
ascertain the real conditions and had been met at the 
train by the armed guards and sent on about their 
business, added their story. Mrs. Fremont Older, 
who had been both a witness and for a time a victim 
of the system, went to Washington and told him her 
story — a story calculated to outrage any man of the 
legal profession who entertained the slightest regard 
for the courts or the constitution. Representatives 
of the United Mine Workers armed him with plenty 
of ammunition from their arsenal. But even before 
the miners' side of the story had been impressed upon 
him Senator Kern was convinced of the imperative 
necessity for the investigation by the nature and per- 
sistence of the opposition. Men with no apparent 
interests in the coal fields not citizens of West Vir- 
ginia began to wire and phone their importunities 
to drop the proposed investigation. Many railroad 
officials seemed morbidly concerned. The highest 
financial circles of New York City brought every 
possible influence to bear. Being a man of more 
than ordinary perspicacity the grave concern of these 
men opened to the senator a broad vista. The climax 
of this campaign to influence him to drop the fight 
came when an old and valued friend in New York 



316 Life of John W. Kern 

City connected with one of the greatest financial 
groups of that city called him on the phone in an 
effort to dissuade him. 

"I will see you in hell first," was the reply as Kern 
slammed up the receiver. 

As usual with men of this type their vaulting am- 
bition overleaped itself. Meanwhile Governor Hay- 
wood of West Virginia, elected to succeed Glasscock 
on the pledge to eliminate the armed thugs called 
guards, gave an interview to the press which was 
sent throughout the country attacking Kern in the 
most bitter language. 

Thus at a time when the public, kept in the dark 
as to the horrible conditions in West Virginia 
through the deliberate suppression of the most sen- 
sational news, Kern was being pilloried throughout 
the country as a demagogic sensationalist, in league 
with lawlessness, and not above stooping to ordinary 
falsehoods. The conservative element, prone to sus- 
pect all strikers, and exonerate all against whom 
strikes are aimed, was being prejudiced against him. 
The masses of the people were not aroused because 
they did not have the facts. The most powerful in- 
fluences were in league against him. And the whis- 
per went about the corridors of the capital that the 
resolution was a deadly blow at the rights of the 
states, and was only the beginning of more dangerous 
encroachments upon state sovereignty. Mr. Kern 



Keen's Fight Against Feudalism 317 

had only entered upon his work as senate leader and 
his personal, and especially his political enemies, 
knowing little and caring less about the merits of the 
resolution, and convinced that it could never pass the 
senate, were already gloating over his humiliation, 
and preparing to herald it as an early repudiation of 
his leadership by his party. 

Never before in the history of the United States 
senate in a straight contest between the lowly or the 
workers and the great financial interests had the 
workers won — and the politicians were judging the 
future by the past. 

But on the very day that Haywood issued his scur- 
rilous statement an historic telegram was placed in 
the hands of Kern which did much to turn the tide. 
This telegram has its own story. 

VIII 

One day in early May, Mother Jones, enjoying life 
in "the pleasant boarding house in a private family 
on the banks of the Kanawha river," was startled by 
some one throwing into the open window of the room 
where "she was detained but in no sense confined" 
beyond the fact that armed sentinels saw to it that 
she did not leave the room, a copy of The Cincinnati 
Post. Opening the paper she found under glaring 
headlines the story of the battle in the senate of which 
she had been in utter ignorance. This article told of 



318 Life of John W. Kern 

the bitter fight being made against the Kern resolu- 
tion, of the long distance call to Kern from New 
York City, and of the senator's indignant response, 
"I'll see you in hell first." And she realized that if 
the battle in the senate was lost the cause of the 
miners in West Virginia would be set back for a gen- 
eration. She did not know Kern — had never met 
him. The thought came to her that she should write 
him of the real conditions. Then she read The Post 
article again in which the comment was made that 
the New York financiers "did not write, did not tele- 
graph — they took the quickest way to reach him." A 
letter — it might never reach him, and everything 
might be lost in the meanwhile. She decided to send 
a telegram. And she wrote : 

Hansford, West Virginia, May 4. 
Senator Kern, care Senate Chamber, Washington, 

D. C: 

From out of the military bastile, where I have 
been forced to pass my eighty-first milestone of life, 
I plead with you for the honor of this nation. I send 
you groans and tears of men, women and children as 
I have heard them in this state, and beg you to force 
that investigation. Children yet unborn will rise and 
bless you. MOTHER JONES. 

Reading it critically she concluded that the words 
"military bastile" might smack of pose and she 
substituted "military prison walls." 



Kernes Fight Against Feudalism 319 

The next problem was how to get the telegram to 
Washington. The poor people at whose home she 
was "detained" were friendly to her and her cause, 
although this was not known to the authorities. 
Early during her incarceration she had thought it 
possible that she might be in need of communication 
with the outside world and with the aid of the head 
of the house a part of the flooring had been cut, and 
an empty bottle was suspended by a wire into the 
cellar. It was the understanding that at the sound of 
a bell with which she had been furnished the man 
should go to the cellar, where he would find a com- 
munication in the bottle. Into this bottle she stuffed 
the telegram with a note of instructions to deliver it 
to an operator who was friendly some distance away 
with the message from her to "get it to Washington 
if it is the last thing you do in life." Some time later 
the messenger returned with the message from the 
operator — "Tell Mother Jones that telegram will be 
in Washington before you get back." And it was. 

That telegram was instantly given to the press and 
flashed over the country. It created consternation in 
Charlestown. It threw open the prison doors to the 
venerable woman. One of the military men at Pratt 
was instructed from the state house by phone to con- 
duct Mother Jones to the capital by the first train. 
Reaching Charlestown she was taken before the gov- 
ernor and treated with exceptional courtesy. 



320 Life of John W. Kern 

She was permitted to spend the night in the hotel 
in Charlestown where she was accustomed to stop- 
ping. Immediately afterward at a miners' convene 
tion in the city she was instructed by John P. White, 
president of the United Mine Workers, to go to 
Washington and give all possible aid to Kern in his 
fight. 

And thus she went, without having been formally 
set at liberty and without knowing what the sentence 
of the military tribunal had been. 

Reaching Washington she went into conference 
immediately with Kern, and the following day found 
her, loaded down with letters to senators from Sec- 
retary of Labor Wilson, trudging the interminable 
marble corridors of the senate office building, in- 
forming senators individually and at length of the 
conditions in West Virginia. At times her eighty- 
odd years bore heavily upon her and worn and weary 
she would return to Kern's office,, sink exhausted into 
a chair for a rest of a few minutes — then on her way 
again. 

The most impressive and effective lobbyist that 
ever trod the stones of the capital was this old 
woman. 

IX 

Senator Kern in opening the debate on the "Kern 
resolution" on May 9th asked that "this investigation 
proceed that the full light may be let in on this foul 



Kern's Fight Against Feudalism 321 

spot and that all the facts bearing on these questions 
may be brought out to the end that wrongs, if they 
exist, may be righted, and that any men who are un- 
justly accused may be vindicated." 

Five days went by before the resolution was again 
considered by the senate. In the meanwhile the coun- 
try was awakening to the significance of the fight and 
Kern was able to present scores of letters, telegrams, 
petitions from miners of West Virginia and else- 
where, and a striking telegram from the victims of 
militarism then held in the jail at Clarksburg, West 
Virginia, "stripped of constitutional rights, denied 
a jury trial, forced to face a drumhead court martial, 
deprived of their citizenship, reduced to subjects and 
thrown into jail." This resulted in the renewal of the 
discussion and Senator Kern said : 

"I had a telegram the other day from a leader of 
Socialism denunciatory of these conditions. When I 
showed it to a senator here he deprecated the idea 
that there was such relationship between me and that 
man that he would feel free to telegraph me. Men 
are being imprisoned in West Virginia today because 
they are Socialists; newspapers are being suppressed 
because they teach the doctrines of Socialism; men 
are discharged from mines, according to the testi- 
mony taken before the military commission, because 
they vote the Socialist ticket and because they belong 
to a labor union; and while the doctrine of judicial 
recall gains favor with the people whose rights are 



322 Life of John W. Kern 

stricken down by unjust decisions, so do the forces 
of Socialism multiply in such breeding grounds as 
those in parts of West Virginia, with special privi- 
lege on one hand eating out the substance of the peo- 
ple, and with judges setting aside constitutional safe- 
guards to the end that the people may be oppressed 
and denied rights for which their fathers fought and 
died. 

"Socialism has grown in this country until more 
than a million men cast their votes for the Socialist 
ticket at the last election. The fire of Socialism is 
fed by such fuel as this West Virginia decision, and 
the lawless action there of men charged with the exe- 
cution of the laws. Socialism grows and will grow 
in exact proportion as wrongdoing is countenanced 
and upheld, not only by the strong legislative forces 
of the country, but especially when they are backed 
up by the judicial arm of the government. 

"Senators, these million men who voted the Social- 
ist ticket last November are the men who ought to 
be full of that kind of patriotism in time of war that 
would impel them to go out and walk on the utter- 
most ridge of battle, to peril their lives in defense of 
their country and their country's flag because they 
love their country, because they venerate the laws of 
the land. 

"This great body of a million or more men whose 
loyalty you question, and the millions more who 
make up the organized labor forces of the land, and 
who are not yet Socialists, will love their country 
and its flag if you will permit them, and not drive 
them away by making them constantly realize that 



Kernes Fight Against Feudalism 323 

they can not expect fair treatment either in the ad- 
ministration of the law by executive officers or in the 
construction and enforcement of law by the courts. 

"If the time comes — we all pray it may be averted 
— when the integrity of this nation is assailed, either 
from within or from without — if the time comes 
when the American Republic is brought face to face 
with the marching armies of the nations beyond the 
sea, we will need those million of men, for they are 
men that toil with their hands. They have strong 
arms. They are the same type of men as that splendid 
Army of the Republic fifty years ago who won for 
themselves imperishable renown by their sacrifices 
in behalf of the Union and the flag. 

"Do you make good citizens of men by denying 
them their rights? Do you command the respect and 
the patriotism of the toilers of this land by turning 
them away when they come into this great tribunal 
and simply ask that the light be turned on, to the 
end that the people may know as to whether or not 
God reigns and the Constitution still lives, and 
whether they and their kind are to be despoiled of 
their heritage of liberty? 

"For a man to be a loyal, good citizen of this coun- 
try he must love his country. Can you ask him to 
love his country and be true to her traditions and 
institutions when in his heart of hearts he knows that 
in this land and beneath its flag there is a law for him 
which is not enforced against others, and that he can 
no longer appeal to the courts for the enforcement 
of his constitutional rights?" 



324 Life of John W. Kern 

Strong support was given the resolution by HoUis 
of New Hampshire, Borah, Kenyon, Martine, but it 
was left to Root to brush aside the technicalities and 
precedents and insist that the vital thing involved 
was the preservation of American institutions. The 
fight against the resolution finally resolved itself into 
the proposition proposed and championed by Bacon 
to strike out the clause providing for an investigation 
into whether or not "citizens of the United States 
have been arrested, tried and convicted contrary to 
or in violation of the constitution and the laws of the 
United States." It should be said in justice to Bacon 
that he was as forcible as any in his condemnation of 
the oppression of the miners, and favored the investi- 
gation with the elimination of the fourth clause. His 
amendment, however, was defeated by a vote of 59 
to 10, and the resolution, as finally shaped by the 
committee on Education and Labor was agreed to 
without a record vote. This differed from the orig- 
inal resolution in that it broadened the scope of the 
investigation to include an inquiry into agreements 
and combinations contrary to the laws of the country. 

Thus for the first time in the history of the senate 
in a fight involving a contest between capital and 
labor the workers won. The leadership of Kern was 
not "repudiated" as newspapers antagonistic to him, 
counting their chickens before they were hatched, 
had framed their headlines to read. The next best 



Kernes Fight Against Feudalism 325 

thing was done — as little was said about his triumph 
as possible. 

X 
And the result of the investigation was a vindica- 
tion — and a triumph for the miners. The sub- 
committee of the committee on Education and La- 
bor, to which was assigned the task of investigating, 
was highly satisfactory to the author of the resolu- 
tion. It was proof positive against a white wash. 
Kern was particularly pleased with the presence on 
the committee of Borah, Kenyon and Martine, all of 
whom were temperamentally sympathetic toward the 
oppressed, and interested in social justice, and the 
first two were in addition able lawyers and men with 
vision. The committee sat in Charlestown in July 
and with a recess necessitated by important business 
in the senate, concluded its work in Washington in 
September and early October. The reports were all 
the more impressive because of their fairness and the 
conservatism of expression. Peonage in the legal 
sense was not disclosed. That men who were in- 
debted to the companies were in a state of virtual 
peonage there is no doubt. No proof was found that 
any "attempt to prevent the delivery of mail to pa- 
trons of the postoffice" had been made, other than the 
fact that the postoffice, in the company stores, were 
frequented by the armed guards. No evidence was 
adduced showing a violation of the national immi- 



326 Life of John W. Kern 

gration laws though the fact was disclosed that men 
were induced through "misinformation and misrep- 
resentations" to accept employment in the coal fields 
and that "hardships in this respect were disclosed." 
But the all important charge that the constitution 
had been set aside, martial law established, men ar- 
rested without warrant of the civil authorities, tried 
by drumhead court martials, and given sentences in 
excess of any provided in the statutes was made good. 
This phase of the investigation was in charge of Sen- 
ator Borah, who treated the evidence in a conserva- 
tive judicial manner. In his supplementary report 
Senator Martine took occasion to say: "I charge that 
the hiring of armed bodies of men by private mine 
owners and others corporations and the use of steel 
armored trains, machine guns and bloodhounds on 
defenseless women and children is but a little way 
removed from barbarism." Senator Kenyon in dis- 
cussing the cause of the trouble and the suggestion 
of Bishop Donahue that "human greed on both sides" 
was responsible said: "It is a little difficult to realize 
how there can be so much human greed on the side 
of a man who is supporting a family and working 
day by day in the mines at ordinary living wages, 
but there is greed on the part of the owners of the 
property." And the committee report, commenting 
on the situation at the time of its preparation, said : 



Kern's Fight Against Feudalism 327 

"The dififerences between the miners and oper- 
ators, which were considered irreconcilable, have 
been amicably adjusted. Peace now reigns in this 
section where heretofore existed strife, contention, 
and armed conflict. The relations between the oper- 
ators and the miners have become friendly and con- 
ciliatory. Business has been resumed and the mines 
are being operated. Martial law has been abolished 
and civil law and authority fully established. The 
committee is satisfied that the investigations have 
greatly aided in the accomplishment of these bene- 
ficial and much-desired results." 

And the miners knew, what was of more vital im- 
portance to them, that none of their men would serve 
twenty years in the penitentiary at the behest of a 
military despotism, and Mother Jones declared that 
"Senator Kern threw open the prison doors for me." 

The militant courage of Kern held high the torch 
that illuminated the darkness of the darkest spot, in- 
dustrially on American soil, and it will never be so 
dark again. His action made him powerful foes, 
even in his own state. But it won him something that 
he cherished — the undying gratitude of the workers 
who go down into the earth for the fuel that warms 
mankind. 



CHAPTER XVI 

Senatorial Battles for Social Justice 

I 

SENATOR KERN carried into the senate the 
keen sense of social justice, and the sympathy 
for the lowly which had characterized him through 
life, and during his term in the senate there was no 
controversy involving the rights or interests of the 
working classes in which he did not take an active 
interest. While no service he rendered to the work- 
ers required the courage called for in the battle 
against feudalism in the Paint Creek settlement of 
West Virginia, this was by no means an isolated in- 
stance of devotion to their cause. Nor was this in 
any sense a pose for political effect. He had an in- 
herent hatred of oppression of the weak on the part 
of the powerful, and was temperamentally incapable 
of understanding the indifference of others. When 
during the pendency of the anti-trust bill letters 
poured in upon him urging that trade unions be 
placed in the same category with trusts, formed for 
the purpose of arbitrarily fixing prices and exploit- 
ing the consumers, he made no attempt to conceal his 
disgust. The insistence of some law-makers that the 
rights of man should be weighed in the same scale 
with the privileges of property, translated in the vo- 
cabulary of some into ''rights," aroused his wrath. 



Senatorial Battles for Soclil Justice 329 

In the mid-summer of 1914 an incident occurred in 
the senate during the consideration of the sundry civil 
appropriation bill which, more than any other one 
thing perhaps revealed Senator Kern's attitude to- 
ward the social and economic problems of the coun- 
try. Some time before, the congress had created an 
Industrial Relations Commission and President Wil- 
son had appointed as its chairman Frank P. Walsh 
of Kansas City, a lawyer of unusual ability who 
thought in terms of humanity — the ideal man for the 
position. This was one of the commissions that could 
be made worthless or worth while, according to the 
disposition of its membership, and the president had 
appointed a chairman who made everything worth 
while that he touched. He accepted his duties seri- 
ously and set to v/ork in the most thorough and ex- 
haustive fashion to probe to the bottom of the social 
and industrial problems of America. Within a few 
months he had accomplished enough to attract the 
attention of thinkers, social workers and economists 
to his work. The conditions he disclosed were in 
some instances startling. Senator Kern, who had 
sympathized with the purpose of the commission, 
read in manuscript the evidence taken by the com- 
mission at Philadelphia and was delighted with the 
spirit with which it approached its task, and im- 
pressed with the enormous possibilities for good from 
such an expose of evils. 



330 Life of John W. Kern 

He had enough faith in human nature to feel as- 
sured that ameliatory legislation would always fol- 
low the realization of its necessity as a result of the 
pressure of public opinion. He felt that many of the 
social and economic wrongs are permitted to exist 
merely because the public knows little about them, 
or knows them only as isolated cases of viciousness 
or injustice. He knew that the elements or interests 
that are the beneficiaries of such wrongs are vitally 
concerned in their concealment. And Mr. Walsh was 
seriously interfering with their peace of mind. The 
press was beginning to give considerable publicity 
to his work. The working class was intensely inter- 
ested. Even the colleges were taking notice. 

The result was the beginning of a propaganda to 
discredit the work of the commission, by picturing 
Walsh as a dangerous visionary, more or less social- 
istic, whose work was merely calculated to create 
bad blood between the employers and the employees. 
One feature of the propaganda was to create the im- 
pression that the commission was accomplishing 
nothing worth while and that public money was be- 
ing squandered uselessly. "Why should such a com- 
mission be continued, an3rway?" 

When the sundry civil appropriation bill was un- 
der consideration by the senate July 7, 1914, Senator 
Borah of Idaho, whose views on social justice closely 
resembled those of Senator Kern, called attention to 



Senatorial Battles for Social Justice 331 

the action of the Appropriations committee in cut- 
ting the appropriation for the commission from 
$200,000 to a paltry $50,000, which was equivalent 
to blotting it out entirely. With the appropriation 
previously made it had been utterly impossible to 
print the evidence taken at the various hearings. The 
reduction of the appropriation as proposed would 
have had the effect of destroying the commission 
utterly. If such was not the intention of the commit- 
tee it was the desire of some members of the senate 
who feared the effect of the expose of the conditions 
of child labor and in the sweat shops and death traps 
where women are worked for a miserable pittance 
under conditions of sanitation disgraceful to the age. 

In explaining the action of the committee Senator 
Martin of Virginia said that it was of the opinion 
that "no good was being derived correspondingly to 
that appropriation," and expressed his personal 
doubt as to the work of the commission being "ad- 
vantageous to the public." Asked by Senator Borah 
whether the commission had been consulted as to the 
reasons for the larger appropriation, Senator Martin 
replied that it had not. 

It was at this juncture that Senator Kern entered 
the debate with a warm commendation of the work 
and purposes of the commission. 

As the fight developed — it consumed the greater 
part of the day — all those senators particularly in- 



332 Life of John W. Kern 

terested in a program of social justice took part in 
the debate against the committee amendment, basing 
their arguments on the ground that society is entitled 
to all possible light on industrial conditions to the 
end that ameliatory legislation may reach the vicious 
features. The amendment was defeated with a de- 
cisive vote of 46 to 18, but would probably have gone 
through but for the fact that Kern and Borah led an 
aggressive fight against it. 

Thus the commission was saved. 

This position in regard to the commission is a fair 
indication of Kern's attitude toward the problems, 
the wrongs and rights, of the men, women and chil- 
dren who earn their bread by the labor of their hands. 
And this attitude was consistently maintained, not 
only throughout his senatorial career, but through- 
out his life. This feeling grew stronger as he grew 
older instead of moderating with the chilling of the 
fire of youth, and he was never more radical along 
these lines than on the day he left the senate. 



After his services to the miners of West Virginia 
Senator Kern's most distinguished service to the 
toilers was in the part he played in securing the en- 
actment of the Seamen's bill, which was signed by 
President Wilson in the spring of 1915. The story 
of that measure reads like a romance. One of the 



Senatorial Battles for Social Justice 333 

unaccountable neglects of a humane civilization had 
been its utter indifference to the insufferable wrongs 
of the men who "go out upon the sea in ships." The 
toilers of the land had been lifted from the degrada- 
tion once associated with labor, but the toilers of the 
sea were left in servitude, not only with the knowl- 
edge but with the active connivance of governments. 
Underpaid, improperly fed, they were so much the 
slaves of the masters of the ships that a member of a 
crew deciding in port to sever his connection with 
the vessel was treated as the fugitive slaves before 
the war — hunted down by police officers and re- 
turned as escaped 'criminals to their masters. This 
impossible life gradually drove the more competent 
seamen from the waters and the traveling public paid 
the penalty in increased disasters. From i860 until 
1 9 14 every succeeding record of lives lost at sea was 
lengthened, notwithstanding the better equipment of 
the boats. The rule that the wage fixed should be 
the wage paid at the port of employment led the ship 
owners to the manning of their vessels in ports where 
the scale of living was lowest, and the result was that 
the poorest seamen were entrusted with the lives of 
travelers. The ship owners only concerned them- 
selves with profits. One of the reasons for the decline 
of our merchant marine was the refusal of Amer- 
icans to take service on ships at the meager wage 
paid, and we entered into a treaty to arrest, detain 



33-1 Life of John W. Kern 

and return deserters from ships in American ports. 
Thus we deliberately entered into a conspiracy 
against ourselves; for if the men employed in low- 
wage ports deserted in an American port and the 
master of the ship was forced to man his vessel here 
he would have to pay the higher wage and thus the 
equalization of wages for seamen on a higher plane 
would result. We helped to keep the scale of wages 
down below the American standard and thereby de- 
liberately forced American sailors from the sea. Be- 
fore President Wilson signed the Seamen's bill of 
1917 the sailors of the world were slaves. 

The battle to right this wrong was waged for years 
through the patience and perseverance of one of the 
most remarkable lobbyists that ever haunted the cap- 
itol at Washington. Only a Victor Hugo could ade- 
quately tell the tale of Andrew Furseth. 

Born in Norway, the Viking blood in his veins, 
he went to sea at the age of sixteen. Fie loved the 
sea. It was a hereditary passion. Standing on the 
shore and looking out to where the sky and waters 
met he thought he saw in the life of the sea the free 
life — and he had a passion for freedom. He soon 
discovered the tragic truth — he was the slave of the 
master of the ship. 

"I saw men abused, beaten into insensibility," he 
said. "I saw sailors try to escape from brutal mas- 
ters and from unseaworthy vessels upon which they 



Senatorial Battles for Social Justice 335 

had been lured to serve. I saw them hunted down 
and thrown into the ship's hold in chains. I know the 
bitterness of it all from experience." 

And he had seen over-insured and under-manned 
ships go down at sea because greedy owners would 
not furnish skilled seamen or provide lifeboats. He 
had lived to see white labor driven out by the ship- 
ping trust to make way for oriental slaves, and the 
sea power moving unmistakably to the orient as a 
result. 

This condition was all the more bitter to Andrew 
Furseth, for he knew and loved the sea and its ro- 
mantic history and knew that seamen had once been 
free men. He determined to dedicate his life to 
doing for the seamen what Lincoln did for the slaves, 
and he landed on the Pacific coast of America. 

"For the seamen of the world," wrote John L. 
Mathews in Everybody's Magazine, "the most im- 
portant event of the nineteenth century was the com- 
ing ashore of Andrew Furseth." 

His first step was to challenge the greed of the 
shipping interests by organizing the seamen along 
the coast. The organization was small and its mem- 
bership pitifully poor, and it faced the bitter hos- 
tility of powerful interests and a prejudiced or sub- 
sidized press. 

Knowing that the seamen of the world would not 
be freed by his little organization alone, he went to 



336 Life of John W. Kern 

Washington as its representative. That was in 1894. 
The following twenty-one years of Furseth's life mark 
the greatness of the man. So low had the seaman 
fallen in the estimation of the world that this man 
with no other motive than to secure the enactment of 
legislation was under police espionage and for years 
was shadowed by detectives. His persecutors wasted 
money — his life was in the open. Year after year he 
pressed his case on members of the congress. Many 
were openly hostile. Some mildly curious. None 
greatly interested. Sometimes his bill was introduced 
and quietly smothered in committee. Sometimes he 
could find no one to present it. Men of less heroic 
mould have succumbed to despair. Furseth never 
despaired. He never stormed at fate. He persevered. 
He was like the character in Hugo's Toilers of the 
Sea. 

Working for a ridiculously small salary,, when 
hard times came upon the country he voluntarily cut 
his own pay. With no small vices to feed, he found 
he could exist on next to nothing in a sailors' board- 
ing house. Asked once if he had laid anything aside 
for old age, he made an answer that deserves to live: 

"When my work is finished, I hope to be finished. 
I have made no provision against old age, and I shall 
borrow no fears from time." 

At length he forced attention. The Democratic 
party in its Baltimore convention incorporated a 



Senatorial Battles for Social Justice 337 

plank in its platform which pledged the party to the 
abrogation of treaties obligating the United States to 
hunt down and return as criminals the deserters from 
foreign ships in American ports and to general legis- 
lation in the interest of the seamen. Senator Lafol- 
lette introduced the Seaman's bill. 

That, however, was only a beginning and did not 
necessarily signify anything. The bill was certain to 
encounter the most bitter opposition of the most pow- 
erful interests, and senators naturally ultra-conserva- 
tive were certain to find plausible reasons for oppo- 
sition in the protests of foreign governments. The 
only hope was in enlisting the active sympathy and 
interest of an influential leader of the majority, and 
Furseth was urged to present his case to Senator 
Kern. 

I shall let Furseth tell the story of his first call on 
Kern: 

"Shortly after the senator came to the senate I 
went to him and asked his permission to tell him 
about the seamen. He had no time then, but told me 
to come to his hotel. Upon my arrival at the ap- 
pointed time I told him it would take me at least 
twenty minutes to give him some idea of what I had 
to say. He told me to go ahead. I did and I was with 
him for about an hour and a half. In a quiet easy 
way he encouraged me to talk, and I told him about 
the seaman's daily life on the vessel, but more so on 
the shore. At sea, the terrible quarters, the ceaseless 



338 Life of John W. Kern 

toil, the poor food, the general treatment and the 
longing to get away from the life which was de- 
graded by involuntary servitude and a feeling of 
helplessness. On shore, the power of the Crimp to 
dictate our wages and take away what we were to 
earn in the form of advance or 'allotment to the orig- 
inal creditor,' as the thing was called; the power to 
compel us to go to sea in any vessel and with any 
kind of men — destitute poor devils who set our wages 
when we were hired and whose work we had to do at 
sea because they could not. With it all a feeling that 
we were forgotten by God and held in bitter con- 
tempt by men on shore. When I stopped he would 
ask a question and set me going again, and then he 
said — 'I shall see whether we can not help you.' 

"And he certainly did. I tried not to go to him too 
often; but it was often and he was always kind and 
encouraging. I always left him with more hope in 
my heart, and sometimes I needed it sorely. If God 
ever placed upon the shoulders of men a part of the 
burdens of others the senator was surely one of those 
men. My burden was always lighter and my heart 
more free when I left him. 

"There never was anything that he could person- 
ally do to help getting the Seaman's bill through 
that he did not do. He helped to get the bill consid- 
ered. He helped to get it passed. He saved it when 
the London Convention and the treaty adopted there 
was about to strangle it for good. If that treaty had 
been adopted the Seamen's bill could never have 
been passed. That treaty was designed to keep the 
Americans from the sea, and if the United States 



Senatorial Battles for Social Justice 339 

now has the men needed or is able to get them, not 
only the seamen, but this nation owes the thanks 
therefor to Senator Kern.'' 

After the bill had passed both branches of the con- 
gress and went to the president for his signature the 
most remarkable efforts were made to persuade 
President Wilson to veto it. These efforts were made 
by the most powerful influences that think in terms 
of money rather than in terms of humanity. The 
National Chamber of Commerce took an active part 
in condemnation of the act. Delegations called at 
the White House to assure the president that the law 
would destroy American commerce. 

It was at this juncture that Senator Kern rendered 
his last great service to the seamen. At the head of 
seven or eight senators he called at the White House 
to urge the president to sign the bill. It was signed 
on March 4th. 

The Seamen's law, which is the Magna Charta of 
seamen's rights, would sooner or later have been en- 
acted because ordinary humanity demanded it, but 
the interest of Senator Kern in its passage unques- 
tionably hastened the breaking of the chains of the 
slaves of the sea. No one was in the position to pro- 
portion the credit that Furseth was and it is enough 
for the historian to know that the three men who re- 
ceived in largest measure the gratitude of the old 
Norseman were President Wilson, Robert M. La- 



340 Life of John W.' Kern 

follette and John W. Kern. One year after the law 
had gone into effect, and two months after Senator 
Kern's defeat for re-election to the senate, the man 
whose "coming ashore" was the "greatest event of 
the nineteenth century" to the seamen of the world 
wrote : 

"Washington, D. C, Dec. 31, 1916. 
"Hon. John W. Kern, U. S. Senate : 

"My Dear Senator — The seamen have lived 
through one year in freedom, in hope, and in grati- 
tude to you. On their behalf and for myself I wish 
you a blessed New Year and all the happiness that 
can come to those who feel the pain of others. May 
God in his mercy to us and to all who toil preserve 
you in health and strength to fight on for man's 
freedom. 

"Faithfully and respectfully yours, 

"Andrew Furseth." 

Ill 

In the summer of 19 16 a bill bearing the names 
of Senator Kern and Representative McGillicudy of 
Maine and affecting the interests of 400,000 people 
was enacted into law. The passage of this bill, the 
Kern-McGillicudy Workman's Compensation bill, 
was many years over due. 

"It has been disgraceful," he said in the senate, 
"that the great government of the United States has 
lagged behind every nation in the world, civilized 



Senatorial Battles for Social Justice 341 

and half-civilized, except Turkey, in the care it has 
given to the people who are employed by it." 

About this time he v^as making a futile effort to 
secure adequate compensation for an Indianian who 
had been hopelessly crippled by an accident in Pan- 
ama while in the government service, and the dif- 
ficulties he encountered outraged his sense of de- 
cency and justice. 

When the bill reached the amendment stage, it was 
due to the vigilance of Senator Kern that it was not 
emasculated by amendments, offered in good faith, 
no doubt, but utterly destructive. Senator Smith of 
Georgia insisted upon writing a contributory negli- 
gence clause into the bill. This was earnestly con- 
tested by Senator Kern on the ground that while 
there might be some justification for such a clause in 
an employers' liability law, it would defeat the pur- 
pose of a government workman's compensation act, 
and would deprive the government employee of the 
sense of absolute security to which he was entitled. 

And he just as vigorously opposed the proposal of 
Senator Cummins to have the law administered by a 
bureau instead of by a special commission. 

During his service in the senate he never ceased to 
marvel at the light manner in which hundreds of 
thousands of dollars were appropriated for elaborate 
postoffice buildings where a very simple and inex- 
pensive one would do, and the pitiful parsimony 



342 Life of John W. Kern 

with which some statesmen were inclined to deal 
with expenses incidental to the legal protection of 
the lives and interests of the workingmen. 

The measure was finally passed in August, 1916, 
in practically the form in which it was presented, 
carrying with it an inestimable boon to 400,000 men 
and women who were doing the civil worl^ of the 

nation. 

IV 

During the same summer Senator Kern made his 
heaviest contribution to humanity in the part he 
played in forcing the consideration and passage of 
the child labor law. This was a subject that had 
been near his heart for many years, and we have seen 
that almost a quarter of a century before while a 
member of the state senate he had fought to place a 
child labor law upon the statutes of the state. For 
many years efforts were made from time to time to 
pass a child labor law, but without results. The pub- 
lic opinion of the republic had long been crystallized 
against the exploitation of childhood, and social 
workers had accumulated the most damning evi- 
dence against the system, but the statesmen seemed 
impervious to the pity of it, and cynically found ex- 
cuses for non-activity. But a few years before Sen- 
ator Kern had listened to the witnesses called by the 
House committee investigating the strike in the mills 



Senatorial Battles for Social Justice 343 

of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and had been sickened 
by the sight of pale, aenemic, underfed, overworked 
children who were actually forced to pay for the 
cold water that they drank while at work in the mills. 
He hated the exploitation of childhood with a holy 
hate, and one of his ambitions was to be able to strike 
a blow at the system while in the senate. 

One day in the summer of 1916, at a time when 
senators and congressmen were anxious to get back 
to their constituents in preparation for the campaign, 
and with the program already crowded, the congress 
and the country were electrified by the action of 
President Wilson in demanding action upon the 
child labor bill then pending in the senate. Without 
warning he appeared at the capitol one afternoon 
and repaired to the president's room, where he had 
grown accustomed to hold important conferences on 
legislation, contrary to the custom of his predecessor, 
and summoned Senator Kern. The senator was first 
informed of the president's presence at the capitol by 
a page who had been hailed by the executive and 
asked if he would inform Senator Kern that he was 
wanted in the little room, with its Brumidi decora- 
tions, beyond the Marble Room. There was a brief 
conference, after which other senators were sum- 
moned, and the word flashed over the country that 
the president had created another stumbling block 



344 Life of John W. Kern 

to adjournment by insisting upon the passage of the 
child labor law. From that time on Kern exerted 
himself to the utmost in pressing for action. 

But behind that incident there was another which 
throws more light on the importance of the part 
played by Senator Kern in forcing a child labor law 
upon the books. Some time before the Democratic 
senators had held a caucus to determine upon the 
legislative program for the remainder of the session, 
and Kern had made an earnest plea for the considera- 
tion of the child labor bill. He had met with a stub- 
born opposition, for there were states represented in 
that caucus in which the factories were operated to 
a large degree by child labor. Indeed it had come 
to be a favorite sneer of the socialists that the Demo- 
cratic party could never be counted upon to rid the 
nation of that evil because of the opposition of the 
industrial interests of certain southern states. In the 
caucus Senator Kern not only urged this as a political 
reason for action, and made a personal appeal on the 
ground that failure to act would probably lose In- 
diana to the Democracy in the campaign of the fall 
and defeat him for re-election. But the opponents of 
such legislation were adamant and the caucus ad- 
journed with no provision for child labor legislation 
and with the decision to not take up the immigration 
bill until in December. 

Soon after this President Wilson made his call at 



Senatorial Battles for Social Justice 345 

the capitol; and a little later a few Democratic sen- 
ators, regardless of the caucus action, voted to call 
the immigration bill before the senate, and the pro- 
test of Senator Kern, together with the excoriation 
of the recalcitrant senators by Senator Stone, im- 
pelled the men who disregarded the caucus action to 
defend themselves. In the course of Senator Varda- 
man's defense he dropped the curtain on the pro- 
ceedings of the caucus, and incidentally threw light 
on the prominence of the part played by Senator 
Kern in forcing labor legislation upon the statutes. 

"I remember distinctly," he said, "that the senior 
senator from Indiana stated to the caucus that a 
failure to pass the child labor bill would militate 
very much against the Democratic party in Indiana 
and would probably defeat him for re-election. But 
the caucus adjourned with a program agreed upon 
which left out the consideration at this session of the 
child labor and immigration bills. The next morn- 
ing I heard that the distinguished senator from In- 
diana — the Democratic leader, mind you — was very 
much dissatisfied with the caucus action and was 
busily engaging himself trying to create sentiment 
in favor of rescinding the action of the caucus of the 
evening before. It was also whispered that the presi- 
dent would be invited to take a hand in order to save 
the senator from Indiana from the evil effects of 
non-action upon the child labor bill. The correct- 



346 Life of John W. Kern 

ness of these rumors was soon verified. In due time 
the president of the United States appeared at the 
capitol and called certain senators into consultation. 
But as to what he said — or ordered — I am not at lib- 
erty to speak, since I was not one of the senators con- 
sulted." 

We can do no better than permit the Mississippi 
senator to serve us as reporter of Senator Kern's posi- 
tion in the caucus, and his activities after the caucus 
to bring about such a reconsideration as to include 
in the program for the session the consideration of 
the child labor bill. And the Mississippian's inter- 
pretation of the action of the president, it may be 
added, was shared by others who were chagrined at 
his interference in the program. However that may 
be, it may be said that Senator Kern and the presi- 
dent were in whole-hearted accord on the child labor 
bill and that their joint work was largely responsible 
for the passage of the bill. 

That the country generally at the time looked upon 
Kern as the leader in the fight for the child labor 
bill was soon evident in the disposition of both the 
friends and enemies of the proposed legislation to 
attempt to influence him through propaganda. 
While it had always been his policy to submit peti- 
tions and protests to the senate, regardless of his in- 
dividual opinion on the matter involved, on the 
broad ground that the people were entitled to the 



Senatorial Battles for Soclil Justice 347 

right of petition, so profound was his hate of child 
exploitation and so intense his contempt for those 
who tried to prevent it, that he refused to burden the 
Record with the protests. In only one instance did 
he give any attention to the letters of the defenders 
of the exploiters of childhood. A minister in a south- 
ern community had written him a sanctimoniously 
worded letter on the beauties of child slavery, on the 
philanthropy of the mill owners in preventing the 
starvation of families by permitting children scarcely 
in their teens to work for a pittance in the mills, and 
this aroused his wrath because it came from a min- 
ister of the Gospel. For ministerial defenders of in- 
humanity he had no words with which to measure 
his contempt. In this instance he did attempt to give 
expression to his personal contempt for the minister 
in a letter of withering sarcasm, and this letter he 
gave to the press. Among the men of importance 
who wired him in the interest of the bill were 
Charles W. Eliot, the famous educator. Rabbi Ste- 
phen S. Wise and the Rev. Lyman Abbott of The 
Outlook, and he put their pleas in the Record. Of 
especial value, from his point of view, as supporting 
the position he had taken in the caucus when he had 
been outvoted by his party colleagues, was the tele- 
gram of President Eliot: 

"I venture to express the opinion, in view of the 
coming presidential election, it would be very unwise 



348 Life of John W. Kern 

to postpone the passage of the child labor bill until 
December next. The Democratic party needs the 
support next November of the numerous Republi- 
cans and progressives who are interested in child 
labor legislation. The party has nothing to lose by 
passing the bill and possibly much to gain." 

This view Kern persistently pressed upon such 
Democratic senators as held back, and the bill was 
finally taken up and passed with so little opposition 
on the floor as to be a marvel to those who had striven 
for a decade to interest the congress in such legisla- 
tion. Here, as in many other cases, the work of Sen- 
ator Kern was effective and important, but not done 
in the limelight, and the general public in rejoicing 
over the enactment of the law manifested no special 
appreciation of the services of Kern. This did not 
concern him in the least. It was enough for him to 
know that the blow at child slavery had been struck. 
In his speeches in the campaign of 1916 he dwelt to 
some extent upon the passage of the child labor bill, 
but never once did he give any indication that his 
part in its passage was greater than that of the sen- 
ator who merely voted for the bill. 

Nevertheless his was an important and a leading 
part. 



CHAPTER XVII 

In THE Role of Senate Leader 



NO single administration since the days of Jeffer- 
son has ever approached the record of the first 
administration of Woodrow Wilson in constructive 
achievement, either in the quantity or quality of it. 
One month after assuming office the congress was 
called in extraordinary session, and from April yth, 
1913, until October 24th, 1914, it was kept continu- 
ously at the grind, engaged all the while with ad- 
ministrative and party measures of the first magni- 
tude. During the four years that Senator Kern had 
the grave responsibility of piloting these measures 
through the senate, the congress was in session 1,022 
days, which means that out of four years there were 
only eleven months that it was not engaged with a 
legislative program of vital importance. During the 
first two years the responsibility upon the senate 
leader was especially heavy because of the meager 
Democratic majority and the ever-present possibility 
that some few Democrats might refuse to work in 
harness and thus precipitate confusion, embarrass- 
ment and defeat. The program throughout was un- 
compromisingly progressive, and in accord with 
party sentiment, but there were not a few Democratic 
senators of reactionary or ultra-conservative tenden- 



350 Life of John W. Keen 

cies who were not enthusiastic over the program, and 
it was necessary to cultivate by conciliation the few 
Republicans of progressive leanings. When after 
four months the Underwood tariff law was passed, 
The Boston Herald, commenting on the victory, 
called attention to the fact that a president usually 
had his wishes reasonably met in the house, but dis- 
regarded by the senate, said that "Mr. Wilson with a 
small majority in the senate has been able to hold it 
in line." And yet there were animated discussions 
and numerous disagreements among the majority 
senators that had to be ironed out in caucuses; one 
Democratic senator bolted the caucus and denounced 
it as being "machine-run" on the senate floor; and 
during the intolerable sultry days of the mid-summer 
it was with the greatest difficulty that all the Demo- 
crats were kept in Washington and within call in 
the event of a Republican "surprise." Even at its 
best the national capital is not a summer resort. The 
heat is intensified by the humidity, and the town 
swelters and steams. The senate chamber, with no 
outside ventilation, the light streaming gloomily 
through the glass above, becomes deadening and de- 
pressing, and even the great revolving fans fail to 
make it comfortable.! As the tariff fight dragged on 
into July and August and the call of the seashore 
and the mountains became insistent, it was with dif- 
ficulty that the Democratic majority could be main- 



In the Role of Senate Le^u)er 351 

tained in Washington. And even when they re- 
mained in Washington it was almost impossible to 
keep a quorum at the capitol. Walter Johnson was 
pitching at the ball park, the racing season was on 
in Maryland, the refreshing shadows of Rock Creek 
park were an attraction, and after responding to the 
morning roll call the senators drifted from the cham- 
ber and away from the hill, and for days at a time 
the senate, seen from the gallery, seemed deserted. 
But some one had to know where to reach them 
should the enemy plan a surprise attack; some one 
had to remain in the chamber throughout the day 
on guard — and that "some one" was Kern./ The man 
who for years had so weakened in mid-summer as to 
make it necessary for him to seek the breezes of 
Michigan, was forced to shut himself within the 
stuffy chamber in one of the most enervating sum- 
mer cities in the country. This eternal watchfulness 
and anxiety told upon him, but he was sustained by 
his joy in seeing the things he had so long sought 
being realized. At times when the regular Demo- 
cratic attendance had dwindled to a corporal's guard 
his impatience manifested itself in caucus, where on 
one occasion he supplemented his appeal with sar- 
castic protests, and a "party whip" was selected to 
assist him. The "whip" sent out an eloquent letter 
of appeal, apologizing in advance for the unpleasant 
necessity of insisting upon a regular attendance, and 



352 Life of John W. Kern 

almost immediately disappeared. On his return 
Kern accosted him effusively in the cloak room: 

"I am delighted to find you have recovered," he 
said. "Your appearance is good and I hope you are 
now feeling better." 

The flabbergasted statesman, taken by surprise, 
stammered : 

"But, Senator, I have not been ill." 

"Not ill?" said Kern. "Well, I had not seen you 
around for several days and supposed, of course, that 
you were ill." 

Another senator who had been enjoying the shades 
of the verandas and wooded spaces of a summer re- 
sort was wired by Kern to return to Washington as 
he was needed. His secretary called upon the In- 
dianian the next day to explain that his chief's return 
had been delayed by his inability to get a seat in the 
chair car. Taking from his vest pocket a number of 
clippings from The Washington Post, Kern dryly 
observed that the senator had been playing a good 
game of golf, had attended a number of dances, and 
given a dinner. 

Still another statesman, a popular figure among 
Democrats because of his impetuous partisan devo- 
tion upon the stump, remained in Washington at his 
home without so much as reporting for the morning 
roll call, and repeated expostulations failed to per- 



In the Role of Senate Leader 353 

suade him to resume his duties, until he was threat- 
ened with a denunciation and caucus action. 

When at length the tariff bill was passed, the prev- 
alent sentiment was for adjournment, but the presi- 
dent insisted upon the immediate consideration of 
the proposed Federal Reserve law. The country ap- 
plauded, but there were gutteral grumblings in the 
cloak rooms. 

Almost immediately opposition to many features 
of the administration's measure asserted itself among 
Democratic senators; the demand was made for pro- 
longed hearings; Senator Lewis assured The Chicago 
Inter Ocean that there would be no currency legis- 
lation that session; the committee on Banking and 
Currency found itself deadlocked and a caucus of 
Democratic senators was called to break it; until 
finally things were so whipped into shape that a 
Democratic conference was able to agree after the 
Thanksgiving holidays that there should be no 
Christmas recess unless the currency bill had passed 
by December 24th. 

The session merged into the next session without 
adjournment, and more administration measures cal- 
culated, as the president contended, "to destroy pri- 
vate control and set business free" were pressed for 
immediate consideration. The Trade Commission 
bill, and then the new trust measures, prolific of in- 



354 Life of John W. Kern 

finite contention among Democrats followed. And 
from time to time the faint shadow of the Mexican 
situation fell upon the gloomy chamber, and then 
the great cloud from across the sea, when the Ger- 
man army crossed the Belgium border. But the grind 
went on. 

The temper- of the Democrats was not sweetened 
nor their anxiety diminished by the approach of the 
fall elections of 19 14. The special interest and oppo- 
sition papers were bitterly assailing the administra- 
tion measures, business had been temporarily dis- 
arranged by uncertainty and in some instances with 
sinister intent, and the law makers faced the possi- 
bility of submitting their political fate to their con- 
stituents without an opportunity to mend their 
fences. An effort was made to postpone action on the 
trust bills lest the controversy over whether trade 
unions should be included among the trusts in the 
meaning of the law should have a disastrous effect. 
There were some Democratic senators who stoutly 
insisted that they should, and in addition to his 
routine work as leader, Kern threw himself passion- 
ately into this controversy, indignant that any one 
should place in the same class the organization of 
business to arbitrarily fix prices and oppress the pub- 
lic, and the organization of workingmen for the pur- 
pose of compelling a living wage and living con- 
ditions. 



In the Role of Senate Leader 355 

At length, having been in continuous session for 
567 days, and written into law the greatest amount 
of progressive constructive legislation ever written 
in so short a time in the history of the country, the 
congress adjourned less than two weeks before the 
elections. Throughout this period Kern had played 
a vitally important part, but not a spectacular one. 
When the senate was not in session he was busily en- 
gaged with the Steering committee in efforts to rec- 
oncile differences, to conciliate the disgruntled, and 
owing to the meager majority always in danger of 
being overthrown, Xt^iiuent caucuses were called at 
night, and, when time was pressing, on Sunday morn- 
ings. His work was not the sort that strikes the 
imagination, but it was the kind that counts, and 
with a less astute, patient, conciliatory and watchful 
leader the story of the achievements of the Wilson 
administration during the first two years might never 
have been written as it was. So completely did he 
dedicate his time and energy to his work that weeks 
went by when he never entered his offices in Senate 
building, and senatorial duties more important than 
those of routine were performed by his assistants. 

When the first congress of the Wilson regime 
passed into history James Davenport Whepley, writ- 
ing of the president in The Fortnightly Review 
(London), said that he had ''formed a legislative 
program which would have staggered a more ex- 



356 Life of John W. Kern 

perienced leader" and predicted that his power over 
his party in the congress would decline. As a matter 
of fact there was an undercurrent of rebellion, and 
it was not always that the comments of statesmen in 
the cloak room harmonized with their observations 
on the platform. 

In the short session beginning in December, 1914, 
and ending March 4, 1915, this spirit of rebellion 
burst into flame but soon smouldered to ashes. The 
occasion was the president's Ship Purchase bill, 
which was bitterly assailed by the special interest 
press and opposed by the Republicans with more 
spirit and unanimity than they had displayed before. 
Democratic opposition of a virulent nature devel- 
oped. The caucus called by Kern voted to support 
the bill, but the opposition persisted. The filibuster 
that resulted has never been equaled since the Force 
bill days. Men like Senators Root and Lodge re- 
mained on duty like soldiers day and night. The 
forces behind the idea of a subsidy for private inter- 
ests were never so alert. Senator Penrose, who had 
been so "ill" in Philadelphia that he could not ven- 
ture to Washington to appear before the committee 
on Privileges and Elections which was considering 
an investigation of charges that a million dollars 
had been spent to assure his election, reached Wash- 
ington over night and appeared in the senate cham- 
ber a perfect picture of robust health. Kern, who 



In the Role of Senate Leader 357 

knew that he was in Washington, smoked him out 
of his retirement through a telegram suggesting that 
the Philadelphian send a physician's statement to 
the effect that he was too ill to appear before the 
committee on Privileges and Elections. The debate 
was a mockery— such as those of filibusters always 
are; with men presumably of presidential caliber 
consuming hours of the public's time reading pages 
from books having no relation to the bill under con- 
sideration. Plans were perfected to hold the senate 
in session day and night until a vote could be had, 
and Kern had comforts sent to his committee room 
on the gallery floor with the intention of getting a 
few winks of sleep from time to time. Then came 
the revolt. Seven Democratic senators bolted the 
caucus action and voted with the Republicans to refer 
the bill back to the committee. It had all been care- 
fully planned, and some of these Democratic sen- 
ators during the afternoon just before the vote had 
been observed making numerous trips to the Repub- 
lican cloak room. It was the only instance during ! 
the four years of Kern's leadership that he was un- j 
able to hold his party together behind an administra-/ 
tion measure. f 

When the congress again convened after the sum- 
mer adjournment of 1915 a better spirit of co-opera- 
tion had been restored. After the passage of the 
Rural Credits bill, which is one of the great pieces 



358 Life of John W. Kern 

of constructive legislation to the credit of the party, 
the greater part of the time was given over to the 
so-called "preparedness legislation" and the passage 
of measures recommended by the president to meet 
the international crisis which was growing more 
acute because of the short-sighted policy of Berlin. 
Although not enthusiastic over the preparedness pro- 
gram, and ardently anxious to prevent war, Kern 
accepted the leadership of his chief and supported 
him in all his measures. No member of the senate 
was more intimately identified with the president's 
plan to prevent the threatened railroad strike in the 
late summer of 1916, as we shall see later on. 

II 

Never for a single moment in four years was a 
resting place in sight. President Wilson's program 
"to destroy private control and set business free" was 
not concluded with the passage of the four or five 
great measures that caught the superficial eye, but it 
reached in its ramifications into all the byways of 
national life. Time and again when the senate was 
struggling under a deluge of important administra- 
tive measures, with the end far distant, and the mem- 
bers, work-weary and anxious to get back home, Sen- 
ator Kern was appealed to by the president to add 
as many as half a dozen bills to the calendar for dis- 
posal during the session. These were always impor- 



In the Role of Senate Leader 359 

tant and essential to the president's purpose of de- 
stroying private control and setting business free, 
but they were not always appreciated at the time by 
the press or general public at their true value. While 
always in harmony with the spirit of the pledge of 
the party they frequently went beyond the specific 
promises and thus made it possible for Democratic 
senators sweltering in the heat to question the neces- 
sity of their enactment as a party duty. None of these 
but delighted Kern. And_.thji&-h€--v^'^9---eottstafH:ly-eac. 
gaged in feeling out the sentiment of his party col- 
leagues, constantly consulting with the leaders, and 
reporting to the White House. Not infrequently the 
prevalent sentiment was in favor of postponement, 
but on the gentle, tactful but firm insistence of the 
president he would renew his efforts, usually ending 
in conferences of the Steering committee and party 
caucuses and the decision to act. While the machin- 
ery in the senate appeared to the casual observer to 
almost invariably be moving smoothly, there were 
many tempests in the teapot, occasionally a disposi- 
tion to revolt. The opposition was always ready with 
its taunts that the Democrats of the senate had abdi- 
cated their senatorial prerogatives to the White 
House, and some wise observers for the press were 
fluent with their articles charging degeneracy to the 
senate and recalling the "good old days" when sen- 
ators were "strong enough" to set aside presidential 



360 Life of John W. Kern 

programs, but this did not annoy Kern in the least. 
He was content that some one had been found in high 
station with enough strength and prescience to point 
the way to the realization of the things he had fought 
for for many years, and to lead. But this situation 
kept him busy at his work of conciliation and ironing 
out dififerences. It was here that the personality, the 
character of Kern counted. He was popular with 
his colleagues on the Democratic side of the cham- 
ber, and no one doubted the sincerity of the man who 
without pretense had grown gray working for the 
day that had finally dawned, and no one questioned 
the soundness of his political judgment. His per- 
sonal appeals for "harness work" for the sake, not 
only of the immediate principle involved, but of the 
party's future reputation as a constructive force, had 
effect. 

And it was here that his real strength as a leader 
impressed the superficial as a weakness. He never 
permitted temporary disagreements over single is- 
sues to deprive him of the friendship and confidence 
of the recalcitrant, or to lead him to hasty words of 
criticism or denunciation that would return to plague 
him in the next battle. When the seven senators de- 
serted and bolted the caucus on the Ship Purchase 
bill he was saddened by the possibilities of serious 
future disagreements, but he was silent. Other Dem- 
ocratic senators took it upon themselves to bitterly 



In the Role of Senate Le^u)er 361 

denounce the "bolters" on the floor of the senate, and 
some thought this presumption an act of leadership 
of which Kern was incapable. They were right. It 
did not appeal to him as wise leadership to drive 
these men into chronic opposition to administration 
measures. 

Kern was too tactful to have broken off relations 
with all his fellow Democrats who might at times 
wander from "the reservation." He was not a bull 
in the china shop type of leader — fortunately for the 
Wilson administration and the party. 

There were some, too, who could not understand 
how a leader could really lead and not occupy much 
of the senate's time with speeches. During the four 
years that he was leader he seldom spoke. The pro- 
gram was crowded. It was of vital importance that 
this program should be written into law. This was 
particularly important during the first two years, for 
had the elections of 19 14 resulted in a Democratic 
defeat in the House, the administration would have 
found itself at the end of its rope. It was of vital 
importance that the principal reform measures 
should be enacted. And it was clearly the policy of 
the opposition to curtail this program as much as 
possible through the prolongation of discussion. 
After all differences had been adjusted on the Demo- 
cratic side, noses counted, and a majority found se- 
cure, it was Kern's idea that the Democrats should 



362 Life of John W. Kern 

let the Republicans "talk themselves out" as soon as 
possible and force an early vote. This policy was 
agreed to. But even after the agreement had been 
reached it was impossible to restrain some talkative 
Democrats from entering into verbal combat with 
the opposition and thus consuming precious time 
unnecessarily. 

Thus during the long, weary days, weeks, months 
that these party and administration measures were 
pending Kern was at his post in the all but deserted 
senate chamber, paving the way for the vote; and 
when all the differences had been ironed out as to 
details, and the opposition had exhausted its lung 
power, and noses had been counted, and victory was 
assured, and the day for the vote was fixed, the ora- 
tors flocked into the chamber from the ball park and 
the race courses to thrill the packed galleries with 
their perfectly useless eloquence and grasp the head- 
lines on the first page of the daily papers to impress 
the groundlings with the idea that they had con- 
tributed mightily to the result. On these grandstand 
occasions Kern attracted no attention in the galleries. 

But with the credit he was not at all concerned. It 
was enough for him that a victory had been scored 
and that he had done his full duty. 
Ill 

During the four years Kern's relations with Presi;;^ 
dent Wilson were cordial and confidential. His ad- 



In the Role of Senate Leader 363 

miration for the president knew no bounds. He never 
left him after a conference without being impressed 
anew with his remarkable grasp of affairs, his amaz- 
ing prescience, his genius for work. "Uncannily 
wise" — was his verdict on one occasion. His confer- 
ences at the White House were so frequent that they 
became as the regular routine. Very often he went 
to the White House at night alone. And while some ■ 
statesmen never failed to capitalize all meetings with 
the president, one of the rules laid down by Kern for 
the guidance of his office force was that no publicity 
should ever be given to his visits to the other end of 
the avenue. No living man is capable of properly 
estimating his services to the first administration of 
Woodrow Wilson but the president himself. 

During the trying days of late August and early 
September, 1916, the country was seriously threat- 
ened with a general railroad strike that would have 
prostrated business and wrought general ruin. There 
have been a few more important but probably never 
more dramatic incidents than those surrounding the 
president's efforts to save the country from this dis- 
aster. When he summoned the railroad presidents 
and the men to the White House for conferences it 
was with high hopes that a mere appeal to their 
patriotism would result in mutual concessions, but it 
soon developed that the presidents of the roads were 
indifferent to the public welfare. As the day set for 



364 Life of John W. Kern 

the strike approached everything was laid aside by 
the president and the congress to concentrate upon 
the one pressing problem. On the night of the day 
the railroad presidents refused to accept President 
Wilson's plan of settlement calling for an eight-hour 
day for the men, increased freight rates for the roads 
and a permanent arbitration commission, some light 
is thrown on the situation as it appeared to the lead- 
ers at the capitol in a letter of Senator Kern to Mrs. 
Kern: 

"I am heartsick to-night that I can not be with 
you to-morrow (Sunday), but things are happening 
so rapidly here that I can't leave. Nobody knows 
w^hat is going to happen the next day. The railroad 
situation is alarming. The railroad presidents who 
are here seem to be determined not to yield to the 
president's requests, and if they persist it means the 
greatest strike in the history of the country — one that 
will tie up every railroad and stop every train in the 
country. The president came to the capitol to-day 
and called Senator Newlands, chairman of the Rail- 
road committee, and myself into his room to talk 
over a proposition to amend some of our arbitration 
laws and the Interstate Commerce law, so as to make 
further negotiations possible. ... It is difficult 
to-night to foretell just what the outcome will be. 
The men who own the roads seem to care nothing 
for the public interests, and if disaster comes it will 
largely be their fault. I am calling the Steering 
committee together to-morrow (Sunday) and the 



In the Role of Senate Leader 365 

president will probably come down to confer with a 
number of senators and congressmen Monday morn- 
ing. I am holding up in health first rate. The 
weather has been much better since I last wrote you 
and is pleasant to-night. Yesterday morning I woke 
up at 6 o'clock and pulled down the blinds and 
thought I would sleep until 7:30 and didn't wake 
up until 9. Am trying to get at least eight hours 
sleep every night." 

The following day the Steering committee met in 
the morning, the railroad presidents, unbending, left 
for their various headquarters to prepare for the 
strike, and that night (Sunday) the president did an 
unprecedented thing. It was a stormy night, the rain 
descending in a torrent, and the Finance committee 
was at work in the room in the basement of the capi- 
tol. Suddenly the capitol police, who had deserted 
the entrances to the capitol for their own room in 
the basement, were startled by the appearance of the 
president at their door. He had left the White House 
in his machine in the storm in search of Senator 
Kern. The senator was summoned from the commit- 
tee room, and in the gloomy basement corridors the 
president and the senator began a conference which 
ended in the president's room off the senate chamber 
after a janitor had been found to open the door. It 
was that night that President Wilson announced that 
he would hold the congress in session until the needed 
railroad legislation was enacted. 



366 Life of John W. Kern 

On Monday morning the conference of the presi- 
dent with senators took place in Kern's private room, 
249 Senate building. A second conference was held 
in the same room during the crisis — a history-making 
conference — at which the president's line of action 
was outlined and adopted. The needed legislation 
was enacted on September 2, the country was spared 
the most disastrous industrial conflict in its history, 
and the country will not soon forget the remarkable 
indifiference of the railroad presidents to the public's 
interest. Throughout this crisis Senator Kern played 
a more important part than appeared upon the sur- 
face. His popularity with organized labor made it 
possible for him to bring some influence to bear upon 
their attitude, and he was kept in touch with all the 
conferences of the men through reports submitted to 
him after each meeting by men participating in 
them. 

During the last two years and more of his leader- 
ship Senator Kern was greatly concerned with the 
international situation as it related to the world war. 
He hated war. He understood the frightful meaning 
of the struggle should conditions force us in. While 
not a member of the committee on Foreign Rela- 
tions, he was in the confidence of the president and 
knew of the conditions that were tending to make 
war inevitable to a self-respecting people. So pas- 
sionately was he opposed to war that he had little 



In the Role of Senate Leader 367 

patience with Americans on pleasure bent insisting 
on traveling unnecessarily — through the war zone. 
He recognized their legal right to do so but was in- 
tolerant of their indifference to the possible effect 
upon the peace of a hundred million people. And 
yet he supported every move made by the president 
as justified by the insane policy of Berlin. "The con- 
dition is hell," he wrote a friend in January, 1916. 
"The cyclone may hit us within a few weeks. Noth- 
ing short of a miracle can stop it. I have been up 
against some pretty knotty propositions, but nothing 
like this." 

On February 21, 1916, the president called into 
conference at the White House Senator Kern, Sen- 
ator Stone, chairman of the Foreign Relations com- 
mittee of the senate, and Representative Flood, chair- 
man of the Foreign Relations committee of the house 
— a conference prolific of endless speculation and 
portentous in its meaning, in which, according to The 
Literary Digest, he announced that he would "pro- 
long negotiations with Germany no longer if the 
coming communication from Berlin fails to meet the 
views of the United States." That crisis passed with 
the acceptance by Germany of the American view — 
an acceptance that was to be repudiated by Chancel- 
lor von HoUweg a year later with the remarkable 
explanation that at the time the promise was made in 
regard to ruthless submarine warfare Germany was 



368 Life of John W. Kern 

not in position to refuse. During the short session of 
December, 1916-March, 1917, the atmosphere of 
Washington was charged with electricity. The dis- 
covery of the Zimmerman plot in Mexico and the 
repudiation of the submarine pledge left little 
ground on which to predicate a hope for peace. At 
the capitol something was expected to happen at any 
moment. When the president asked the congress for 
authorization to arm merchantmen Senator Kern 
supported the authorization, and the end of his lead- 
ership, and of his senatorial career, came at an hour 
when we could already hear from afar the thunder 
of the guns. 

During the four years of his leadership Senator 
Kern was thrown into intimate contact with mem-^ 
hers of the cabinet who were interested in adminis- 
tration measures affecting their departments. His 
relations with Mr. Bryan continued to be cordial and 
close, and while he frequently consulted with him 
on party policy, his official relations with the secre- 
tary of state were not so important as with other 
members of the cabinet. In the nature of things he 
was more frequently called into consultation by 
Secretary of the Treasury William G. McAdoo than 
by any others. With the tariff bill, the currency bill 
and the ship purchase bill, three of the most impor- 
tant administration measures, the head of the treas- 
ury department was deeply concerned. In the course 



In the Role of Senate Leader 369 

of innumerable conferences Kern formed a high 
opinion of McAdoo's statesmanship and capacity for 
leadership, and the mutual nature of the apprecia- 
tion is manifest in the letter from Mr. McAdoo, now 
before me, in which he says : 

"John W. Kern served as Democratic leader of the 
senate during a period when some of the most impor- 
tant legislation in the history of the country was en- 
acted into law. With the people's interest ever up- 
permost in his mind, he marshaled the forces of his 
party with infinite patience and tact, and always with 
self-effacement. He was loved and respected by his 
colleagues, regardless of party, and always possessed 
the confidence of the public and the administration. 
He was a patriot and citizen of sterling worth, and 
the Democratic party had in him an able, genuine 
and genial leader." 

After Bryan and McAdoo, his most intimate rela- 
tions were with Secretary of the Navy Josephus Dan- 
iels and Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson. 
There was much in common between the secretary 
of the navy and the senate leader. Their friendship 
long antedated the triumph of the party. The genu- 
ine democracy, the sincerity and simplicity of man- 
ner, and the high moral character of Daniels made 
him peculiarly attractive to Kern; and during the 
time that the sinister special interests were busy with 
their propaganda of belittlement of the secretary, 



370 Life of John W. Keen 

when Kern was cognizant of the wonderful record 
he was making, he took occasion several'times to pro- 
test from the senate floor. The senator's estimate has 
been so overwhelmingly vindicated by events since 
the United States entered the war that nothing need 
to be said of the viciousness of the assaults. 

It was inevitable, of course, that Kern should have 
been intimately identified with Secretary Wilson. 
No member of the senate was so wholeheartedly in 
harmony with the labor movement or with the poli- 
cies that the labor department espoused. It will one 
day be recognized as fortunate that the senate leader 
during the first days of this department was not only 
friendly but aggressively so. It did not require more 
than an occasional hour in the gallery to observe at 
times a distinct feeling of hostility to the new depart- 
ment, which was not confined by any means to the 
Republican side of the chamber. This was observ- 
able in the matter of appropriations to carry on its 
work. Kern was ever alert to protect it against in- 
justice and ever ready to actively co-operate with 
Secretary Wilson in all his plans. 

While not thrown into such frequent contact with 
Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane, he 
looked upon him as one of the strongest men in the 
administration, whose uncompromising progressiv- 
ism was one of the party's strongest assets, and this 
feeling was warmly reciprocated by Lane. 



In the Role of Senate Leader 371 

Thus, dedicating himself and all his energy to 
helping put through a progressive program of which 
he had dreamed for many years, working with ad- 
ministration leaders for whom he had not only ad- 
miration but affection, he was happy to serve, to 
efface himself in serving, and to find his reward in 
the achievements. 

IV 

It is significant of his personal popularity with his 
colleagues that after four years of the most trying, 
grinding legislative achievement in the history of 
the republic, he carried from the chamber at the 
close the confidence and affection of the men with 
whom he wrought. 

This was due in large part to his infinite patience 
and never-failing tact. He never assumed the role 
of a dictator. It w^ould have been repugnant to his 
nature, and would have outraged his sense of the 
proprieties. Had he, or any one else undertaken to 
lead as Aldrich led for the opposition so many years, 
he would have invited an inevitable revolt. He car- 
ried his points by his insistent pursuasiveness. It 
was much easier for his colleagues to conform with 
his wishes than to run counter to them. 

I am indebted to Senator Charles S. Thomas, one 
of the keenest intellects in the senate, for an appraise- 
ment of his leadership from the viewpoint of his fel- 
low senators : 



372 Life of John W. Kern 

"Senator Kern was the most kindly, efficient and 
practical of men, and an ideal leader for a majority 
just coming into control of a great body like the sen- 
ate, after an exile of twenty years. No other member 
of that majority could, in my judgment, have done 
the work so well and so satisfactorily as Senator 
Kern; hence his unanimous selection for that posi- 
tion was inevitable when the sixty-third congress was 
organized. 

"The senate was composed in the main of members 
from the southern states, with a large contingent of 
new men from the north and west, having compara- 
tively little legislative experience, but all eager to 
accomplish the legislation promised the people by 
the national Democracy. This desire very naturally 
aroused ambitions for chairmanships and other 
places of distinction upon the great committees, 
threatening rivalries and possible conflict that might 
prove dangerous to the very slight majority then 
existing. These differences were adjusted by Senator 
Kern after many conferences, some of them present- 
ing difficult situations, and some apparently incapa- 
ble of solution. The senator's judgment of men, his 
methods of appeal and his wonderful tact in dealing 
with his associates enabled him in the course of ten 
or fifteen days to report a plan of organization abso- 
lutely satisfactory to all of his associates with a soli- 
tary exception. Even that exception finally gave way 
to Senator Kern's resourceful, courteous and gener- 
ous methods of treatment. I think it can be said with 
perfect truth that the enactment of the great program 
of reform legislation by the sixty-third congress was 



In the Role of Senate Leader 373 

due as much to Senator Kern's splendid leadership 
as to any other single influence. An epitaph to that 
effect should be written upon his monument." 

To former Senator James A. O'Gorman of New 
York, for whom Kern had a feeling of admiration 
and affection, I am indebted for an estimate which 
emphasizes other points that entered into the making 
of his leadership eflicient: 

"My relations with Senator Kern were close and 
familiar during the four years that he was chairman 
of the Democratic caucus. This position carried 
with it the Democratic leadership of the senate. 
During this period I was a member of the Demo- 
cratic Steering committee, of which Senator Kfrrn 
was chairman. I entered the senate with him on 
April 5, 191 1, and his selection as Democratic leader 
in 19 1 3, after two years' service in the senate, was a 
testimonial of the great respect in which he was then 
held by his colleagues. His upright character, his 
recognized ability and his attractive personality had 
already given him a strong hold upon their esteem. 
At our conferences, which were frequent, he was 
wise and resourceful in suggestion. On these occa- 
sions he invited the freest discussion of legislative 
plans and policies, and was always candid, sympa- 
thetic, conciliatory and helpful. 

"He had a clear and strong mind, a sound judg- 
ment, an unbending integrity, a comprehensive 
knowledge of our constitution and laws, and a power 
of laborious application that enabled him to render 



374 Life of John W. Kern 

valuable and efficient public service. Patriotism, 
honor and loyalty to his friends were his eminent 
characteristics. He was a strong partisan, but there 
was a kindliness about him that turned aside all feel- 
ings of ill will or animosity. He was sociable and 
companionable in the intercourse of life, and in his 
hours of recreation in Washington he was frequently 
the center of a group of devoted and admiring 
friends, who were attracted to him by those qualities 
of mind and heart which in earlier days won him 
recognition among the people of his native state, 
which he represented so faithfully and efficiently in 
the senate of the United States from 191'! to 1917." 

Senator O'Gorman's reference to his partisanship 
and "the kindliness which turned aside all feelings of 
ill will or animosity" suggests the fact that he was 
personally popular with the most partisan Republi- 
cans of the senate. It would have been difficult to 
have found two more intense partisans than Kern, 
and Senator Gallenger of New Hampshire, who was 
the Republican leader, but nothing ever occurred to 
mar their cordial intercourse. 

His self-effacement, his innate modesty, his repug- 
nance to the pose, the fact that his name is not at- 
tached to any of the most important legislative meas- 
ures of the administration, and that for the sake of 
facilitating the advancement of the program he con- 
sumed no time in speeches, may combine to rob him 
of the credit for the part he played in the general 



In the Role of Senate Leader 375 

history of the four eventful years, but from the presi- 
dent and his cabinet down through the members of 
the congress there will never be any other estimate 
upon his leadership than that it was splendidly ef- 
ficient. 

The relations between Senator Kern and Senator 
Willard Saulsbury of Delaware, president pro tem- 
pore of the senate, were affectionate, and the latter's 
estimate of Kern is of special interest: 

"I shall never think of Senator Kern except with 
the affection implied in the nickname I gave him 
soon after we became acquainted, 'Uncle John.' We 
sat at the same table for hours each day practically 
from April until October, 1913, while the Demo- 
crats were preparing with great labor the Under- 
wood-Simmons tariff bill. It was the first time for 
many years that great responsibilities had been 
placed upon our party organization. Senator Kern 
was unanimously chosen the Democratic leader of 
the senate after serving in that body for only two 
years. In his position as Democratic leader and 
chairman of the caucus he displayed great ability 
and tact in handling a majority of senators composed 
of men whose opinions in some cases differed widely. 
Every one respected him and many of us loved him. 
We felt when he left the senate that the party to 
which he belonged and the country had met with an 
irreparable loss, and his death, coming so soon after 
his retirement, was felt by many of us as though he 
had indeed been to each of us an affectionate 'Uncle 



376 Life of John W. Kern 

John.' Dignified, upright, able, I doubt if any one 
ever impressed himself upon his colleagues more fa- 
vorably than he. He was called to the performance 
of high duties at a very critical time in the history of 
our country and performed them in accordance w^ith 
the high traditions of the place he filled. Indiana 
has produced many statesmen of ability and high 
ideals, but none greater, as I believe, has she recog- 
nized among her honored sons than when 'Uncle 
John' came to the senate. The kindly, sweet and gen- 
erous character influenced us all in our personal rela- 
tions with each other, and when, as he occasionally 
did, he took a high, strong stand in favor of a given 
course, he carried us irresistibly to the conclusion 
desired." 




Senator Kern in 1916 

Photograph by Leslie Nagley, of The Indianapolis Times, taken 
at the Indiana Democratic Club 




Kern on His Way to the Capitol 



( 



i 



CHAPTER XVIII 
The Last Battle 

THE campaign in Indiana in 1916 was a cross 
between a comedy and a tragedy. A political 
battle had never before been so miserably misman- 
aged in the history of the state accustomed for half a 
century to fierce fights. By the middle of the sum- 
mer the wiseacres of the east had lightly eliminated 
the state from their calculations and had busied 
themselves with plans for re-electing the president 
without the electoral vote of Indiana. The leaders 
at national headquarters predicated their pessimism 
concerning the state on the extensively advertised 
strength of the Republican state organization, and 
the unquestioned demoralization of the Democratic 
party in Marion countv ( Indianapolis). In the sum- 
mer of 191 5 Senator Kern had shared in this pessim- 
ism until he began his journeys out among the people 
throughout the state, and it was the common observa- 
tion of veteran campaigners of conservative judg- 
ment that they had never in all their experience en- 
countered among Democrats such enthusiasm for the 
president, or found among Republicans so many who 
were openly expressing their intention to vote the 
Democratic ticket. Comparing the state of feeling 



378 Life of John W. Keen 

among the masses of the people with that prevalent 
during the campaign of 1904 preceding the over- 
whelming Republican landslide there was ample 
justification for the feeling that the state was ripe 
for a landslide to the Democrats. Where one Demo- 
crat declared his intention to vote for Roosevelt in 
1904 there were twenty Republicans who were mak- 
ing no secret of their intention to vote for President 
Wilson in 19 16. The sentiment was strong — all it 
needed was crystallization, organization, direction. 

The state leaders, however, were discouraged from 
the beginning by the attitude of the national organi- 
zation and the fear of German-American disaffec- 
tion. The state organization was handicapped 
throughout by the lack of sufficient funds for ordi- 
nary organization purposes — and no hope of aid was 
held at any time by the national leaders. Through- 
out the summer months while the Democrats were 
marking time the Republicans were literally pouring 
money into Indiana, and this was being used with 
deadly effect in the work of organization and propa- 
ganda. A number of the wealthy Democrats of the 
state who had formerly contributed to the campaign 
fund were not in sympathy with the progressive and 
ameliatory policies of the Wilson administration. 
And the masses of the party were poor. In Indian- 
apolis there were not among merchants in the shop- 
ping district half a dozen Democrats, and among the 



The Last Battle 379 

manufacturers an even smaller number. It was mani- 
festly impossible for the Democrats to cope unaided 
with the wealthier Republicans of the state, ener- 
getically backed by the Republican national organi- 
zation. The result was that the Democratic state or- 
ganization was a shell. And the national organiza- 
tion refusing to recognize the responsibility of its 
own neglect used the inefficiency of the state organi- 
zation as an excuse for turning its back on Indiana 
and pouring three times as much money into Penn- 
sylvania and upper New York, where there was no 
possibility of winning, as would have been necessary 
to have placed the electoral vote of Indiana in the 
Democratic column. 

But that was not the only blunder. Never in half 
a century have as few orators of national repute ap- 
peared upon the stump for the Democracy in the 
state of Hendricks, Voorhees and Kern. Mr. Bryan, 
who was probably worth ten thousand votes, and who , 
had been the strongest figure on the stump in the state^ 
for twenty years, did not appear for a single speech. 
Ollie James, another prime favorite, was permitted 
to enter Indiana for two speeches. Two or three cab- 
inet officers spoke once or twice. As far as speakers 
from the outside w^as concerned there was little to 
indicate to the casual observer that the old historic 
battle field was the scene of another struggle. And 
all the while the Republicans were pouring their 



380 Life of John W. Kern 

most effective campaigners into the state. This was 
not satisfactory to the Indiana leaders, who made 
their protests against the neglect but without making 
the slightest impression. 

To Senator Kern the most disheartening feature of 
the disposition to keep the best campaigners out of 
Indiana was his inability to secure the services of the 
more notable former leaders of the Progressive party, 
who were supporting the Democracy elsewhere. 
Late in the summer he had made an effort to impress 
upon Vance McCormick, the national chairman, the 
vital necessity of thus making an appeal on the 
strength of the progressive record of President Wil- 
son to the erstwhile progressives. He had shown him 
that the Democratic vote in Indiana in 19 12, when 
the state was carried by Wilson, was almost 100,000 
short of the vote cast for Bryan in 1908, thus indi- 
cating that the majority of these had gone into the 
Progressive party. And he made it clear that the 
only hope of winning was to get these back and that 
it could only be done by fighting for them. At that 
time he exacted the promise that Francis J. Heney, 
Bainbridge Colby and other progressive orators 
would be sent into the progressive districts of the 
state, but the promise was not kept. To make it 
worse they were dated, advertised, and then with- 
drawn at the eleventh hour. Whatever may have 
been the reason the plain truth is that had the na- 



The Last Battle 381 

tional organization deliberately designed to turn In- 
diana over to the Republicans, it could not have pro- 
ceeded with more effectiveness than it did. 

To make matters all the worse the session of con- 
gress had been prolonged into early September and 
the close found Senator Kern in a state of physical 
exhaustion and under the necessity of taking a brief 
rest before entering the campaign. He returned to 
Indiana after a short time at Kerncliffe on the day 
that Charles E. Hughes spoke in Indianapolis. At 
the hour the Republican presidential nominee was 
speaking in Tomlinson Hall, Senator Kern sat before 
an open grate at his home and discussed the possibili- 
ties of his last battle with the realization that it would 
require his utmost exertions. He was not unmindful 
of the fact that the opposition to his re-election was 
not to be confined to those enlisted under the Repub- 
lican banner, but that he was to face a special fight 
upon himself. Among a certain class of politicians 
he had never been popular, and some of these were 
openly going about abusing him and talking combi- 
nations against him. The activities of these men were 
regularly reported to him, but owing to their insig- 
nificance he attached but little importance to their 
work. But there was another element of opposition 
the strength of which he recognized. This was com- 
posed of the so-called "respectable" men of the busi- 
ness world who distrusted him because of his pro- 



382 Life of John W. Kern 

gressive, humanitarian views of social justice, and 
hated him because of the fights he had made repeat- 
edly for the working classes. The organization ex- 
posed in its perfidy by the Mulhall disclosures had 
its ramifications into Indianapolis especially, but 
throughout the state as well. These men were bitter 
in their opposition. While they were composed for 
the most part of Republicans, they had their Demo- 
cratic allies. It was a combination of a bi-partisan 
nature of the representatives of the idea embodied 
in the association, created for the purpose of destroy- 
ing organized labor and influencing legislation by 
the most sinister methods in favor of special privi- 
leges for the few and against remedial legislation for 
the many. And these men who had disliked him 
from the time he was in the state senate hated him 
all the more because of his fight against Lorimer, 
which was a fight against their system; for his fight 
against the tyranny of the coal barons of West Vir- 
ginia, in favor of the Child Labor bill, the Seamen's 
bill, the Eight-Hour Railroad bill. And all the 
venom thus engendered they poured forth in denun- 
ciations of the senator for having dared appear as 
the legal representative of the Structural Iron and 
Steel Workers when on trial in the federal court. As 
Kern sat before the fire the night that Hughes was 
speaking to a cold crowd down town, he was far from 



The Last Battle 383 

underestimating the capacity of these men for harm. 
They had always been his enemies — and he theirs. 
They hated his views on social justice and he despised 
theirs. And he knew that they would leave no stone 
unturned to encompass his defeat. With the heat of 
the blazing fireplace beating upon his cheeks the 
semblance of the glow of health that night he seemed 
fit for the fight. But it was an illusion of the flames. 
The next morning it was all too apparent in his hag- 
gard features and distressing cough that he was a sick 
man. And his failure to carry out the plans he had 
been meditating a long time was due to his physical 
inability to rise to the occasion. 

Confronted by a powerful foe, aside from the Re- 
publican party organization, he was compelled to 
enter the campaign without a personal organization 
or the funds with which to create one. No politician 
in the state had such a large personal following 
among the rank and file, but this was an unorganized 
and undirected mass. 

The one bright feature of his campaign was the! 
quick and eager response of organized labor — a re- 
sponse spontaneous, unsolicited. One afternoon while 
in his office discussing with a prominent national 
leader of organized labor the necessity of reaching 
the coal fields with the story of his work on the West 
Virginia matter he had just expressed the hope that 



384 Life of John W. Kern 

Mother Jones might be induced to enter the state 
when the telephone bell rang. 

"This is Mother Jones," said the voice at the other 
end, "may I see the senator?" 

And twenty minutes later the wonderful old 
woman walked into the room with the announce- 
ment: 

"When I was imprisoned, threatened with death, 
and needed a friend and none seemed near you saved 
my life. Now you are in a fight and I came to re- 
port. Send me where you will." 

It was in incidents like this that Kern found suf- 
ficient compensation for all the abuse that was lav- 
ished upon him by men of the type of Kirby of the 
Manufacturers' Association. 

At the state convention of the Federation of Labor 
this eighty-year-old woman appeared unexpectedly, 
aroused the delegates to the highest pitch of enthu- 
siasm by her recital of Kern's services to labor and 
herself, and brought every delegate to his feet with 
the demand that all who thought it the duty of union 
labor to fight for the senator's re-election stand up. 
And this scene was not according to the program 
planned by a little coterie of enemies. 

After this Mother Jones swept through the mining 
towns and camps of the state, arousing enthusiasm 
for Kern everywhere she went, and fervently urging 
her "boys" to put on the armor in his behalf. And 



The Last Battle 385 

that which she did was done by other representatives 
of labor of less note. 

It was the idea of local campaign managers in the 
various counties to pack Senator Kern and Senator 
Taggart into automobiles and hurry them from meet- 
ing to meeting for short speeches during the day, 
closing in at night at the county seat with a great 
demonstration. The first week disclosed the impos- 
sibility of the plan as far as Kern was concerned, and 
very soon afterward Senator Taggart, a younger 
man, was forced to notify the managers that he could 
not stand up under the strain. Entering the campaign 
with a distressing cough, the first week increased his 
affliction, and from that time on he was in a hope- 
lessly crippled condition. His physician urged him 
to retire from the stump, but he persisted, buoyed 
up by his enthusiasm for the cause, and impelled to 
do so by the realization that a personal fight was be- 
ing made upon him. The result was pathetic. Leav- 
ing a sick bed he would brave the hardships of travel, 
the inclemency of the weather, to fill an engagement 
with the intention of speaking briefly, but the in- 
spiration and enthusiasm of the crowd would lead 
him on to the full exertion of his strength, and after 
a day or so he would be forced to return to his bed. 
Thus through October he passed from the sick room 
to the stump and back again, all the while growing 
weaker and sustained alone by his power of will. His 



386 Life of John W. Keen 

greatest meetings were probably held at Terre Haute 
and Fort Wayne, in both of which cities he was 
greeted by great crowds notwithstanding a downpour 
of rain, and at the former place he spoke in a great 
tent where men stood for two hours with their feet 
in water. Notwithstanding the personal fight that 
was being made upon him by the powerful interests 
he had antagonized, he refrained in his speeches 
from special references to his own services and con- 
fined himself to laudation of the achievements of the 
national administration and playful ridicule of 
Hughes. Even the bitter personal attacks upon him 
in this, his last battle, failed to embitter him, and his 
last political addresses were singularly free from vi- 
tuperation or abuse. 

He closed his campaign in the last political speech 
of his career, after forty-four years upon the stump, 
at Brookville — and herein hangs a tale illustrative of 
the sentimental strain that was strong in him. It had 
been his custom for years to close at the little town 
of Brookville, and early in the campaign he had 
promised to continue the policy. The speaking cam- 
paign in Indianapolis had been strangely neglected 
and it was not until the Saturday night before the 
election that plans had been made for the final ap- 
peal of the two senatorial candidates at Tomlinson 
Hall. It thus became necessary, if Kern were to 
speak in Indianapois at all, that he cancel his en- 



The Last Battle 387 

gagement for Brookville, but to the importunities of 
his friends who urged upon him the importance of 
the Indianapolis engagement he gave an indignant 
denial. "Certainly not," he snapped as though some 
discreditable thing had been proposed, "I have been 
closing the campaign at Brookville for years, and I 
don't propose to disappoint those people." 

The result v^^as that he did not speak in Indian- 
apolis once during the campaign. 

Handicapped by physical weakness, lack of means, 
want of personal organization, and pursued by a pe- 
culiarly venomous opposition which was not politi- 
cal but personal and born of his friendship for or- 
ganized labor, he struggled through, preserving his 
cheerfulness and hopefulness to the end, receiving 
the personal insults of the tribe of Kirby in silence, 
and only retaliating with kindly references to his 
opponent. When early in the evening on the day of 
the election it became apparent that he had been de- 
feated his first act was to congratulate his opponent, 
a life-long friend, and to pay him a personal compli- 
ment through the press. 

I saw him the night following the election — a 
strikingly frail figure, a little sad but not too sad to 
smile and joke in his accustomed way, greatly dis- 
appointed but not so much so as to be embittered. 
After six years of the most strenuous service, yielding 
his strength ungrudgingly to the demands of his peo- 



388 Life of John W. Kern 

pie, and vindicating the confidence of his supporters 
by attaining as commanding a position in the senate 
as was ever held by an Indiana senator, he now faced 
private life with equanimity, poor of purse, broken 
in health, and nearing three score years and ten. 

His deepest concern that night was his failing 
health, and it was his intention when congress con- 
vened for the short session in December to resign the 
leadership and husband his strength. During the 
month of November he did not greatly improve and 
he returned to his post of duty in December in a seri- 
ous condition. 



CHAPTER XIX 

The Closing of a Career 

THE close of the campaign left Senator Kern in 
such a state of physical debility that he was 
fixed in the determination to withdraw from the du- 
ties and responsibilities of the leadership of his party 
in the senate with the view to conserving his health. 
From this he was dissuaded by party leaders and the 
opening of the short session of the sixty-fourth con- 
gress in December found him at his post as usual. 
The session promised to be a crowded one. In his 
message at the opening of the session President Wil- 
son had insisted that the congress proceed to the ini- 
mediate enactment of the supplementary legislation 
to the Eight-Hour Railroad bill pushed through in 
the early autumn to prevent the strike, and there was 
no certainty that this could be done without a pro- 
longed contest on several points. The congress in 
response to popular clamor had provided for enor- 
mously increased expenditures for the army and 
navy, and now the problem of raising the revenue 
correspondingly was demanding attention. This 
promised to partake of the nature of a party contest 
as all revenue measures do. The historic importance 
of the session, however, was not foreshadowed, for 



390 Life of John W. Kern 

on the December day in 1916 when the gavels fell 
there was little reason to assume that the nation was 
rushing toward war. 

It is not my purpose to follow Senator Kern in the 
discharge of his duties as majority leader. These dif- 
fered in no wise from those of the preceding years. 
But as the days went by and instead of improving in 
health he either made no progress toward recovery 
or seemed to be losing ground, he compromised with 
his sense of duty to the extent of spending less time 
in the stuffy senate chamber. In the afternoons when 
the senate had struck its routine pace he retired more 
and more frequently to his room at Congress Hall, 
or to the seclusion of his committee room on the gal- 
lery floor. His loss of voice immediately after the 
campaign, which might have been ascribed to over 
use, persisted with an ominous suggestion of a recur- 
rence of the trouble which had driven him to Ashe- 
ville ten years before. This, with his loss of weight 
and unhealthy color, caused him deep concern, which 
was not relieved by the necessity imposed by his lack 
of fortune of returning to his profession at the age of 
sixty-eight. Greatly weakened, he met all the obliga- 
tions imposed upon him by his party associates and 
the administration uncomplainingly and gladly. 
While the irony of defeat had sunk deep, the life- 
long chivalry asserted itself in the generous praise 



The Closing of a Career 391 

of his successor, and if there was any bitterness in his 
soul it failed to find expression on his lips. Realizing 
that his political race was run, he failed to respond 
to unfriendly comments of his most virulent political 
enemies. Nothing could have been more perfect than 
his deportment in defeat. 

Early in the session grounds for grave apprehen- 
sion concerning our relations with Germany devel- 
oped, and Senator Kern looked upon the probability 
of war with dread. Aside from the usual horrors of j 
armed conflict, he keenly felt the situation in which \ 
the hundreds of thousands of Americans of German | 
decent would find themselves should we be forced 
into the war by the mingled stubbornness, stupidity 
and perfidy of Berlin. When on that morning in 
January the word flashed over the capitol that Vice- 
President Marshall had received a note from Presi- 
dent Wilson informing him of his desire to address 
the senate, Senator Kern was one of many who was 
depressed at the possibilities of the message. Con-| 
trary to custom, he had not been previously consulted j 
by the president concerning his intentions, and nei-1 
ther had the chairman of the committee on Foreign 
Relations. The president had kept his own councils 
and the note to the vice-president but hinted at the 
general nature of the communication. That morning 
senators generally were prepared for something 



392 Life of John W. Kern 

smacking of a preliminary to a war declaration. It 
was a solemn assemblage of senators that witnessed 
the entrance of Woodrow Wilson to the chamber, 
and a breathless audience both on the floor and in 
the galleries that listened to the remarkable peace 
plea, couched in the president's characteristically 
beautiful English, read in a measured beautifully 
modulated voice. No one was more delighted than 
Senator Kern. But there was to be no peace, neither 
in Europe or for America, and as the session drew to 
a close, with no certainty that the congress would 
again meet for nine months, and with Germany per- 
sisting in her mad course with her submarines, the 
president again appeared, this time before both 
branches, with a request for congressional authoriza- 
tion for the arming of our merchant ships in self- 
defense. This request, made on February 26, did not 
reach the senate for discussion until March ist, and 
the last three days of the session were days of excite- 
! ment and bitterness born of the indisposition of some 
few senators to arm the president with the power he 
asked and in the way he asked it. The debate, which 
was not, as usually charged a fillibuster in the ordi- 
nary meaning of the term, in that none of the 
speeches of the "eleven wilful men" were of great 
length, was of significant duration to prevent a vote 
before the expiration of the congress at noon March 
4th. Senator Kern, who favored the granting of the 



The Closing of a Cakeer 393 

power, did not participate in the discussion, taking 
the position that the friends of the measure would 
serve it best by consuming no time in talk. 

It was in the midst of this bitter battle, on March 
3, that he delivered a brief valedictorian address 
which was a heart expression on the pain of parting 
from associations that had become dear to him. This, 
his last utterance in the senate of which he had been 
the leader for four years, called forth at least one 
tribute that he greatly cherished. He said: 

"Mr. President, before taking leave of this body, I 
desire to take a very few moments in which to express 
partially my deep appreciation of the many kind- 
nesses and courtesies shown me since I have been a 
member of the senate. It will be only a partial ex- 
pression, for there are no words in which I can tell 
you fully of that which is in my mind and heart. 

"I have no thought, sir, that my leavetaking is a 
matter of any great moment either to the country or 
the senate, for senators have come and gone since the 
foundation of the government, and the republic has 
survived the loss of the greatest and the best, but I 
feel that it may not be deemed inappropriate for me 
before leaving to try to tell you, not how greatly you 
will miss me, but rather how I will miss the associa- 
tion and companionship which has so enriched my 
life during the last six years. 

"Mr. President, it will be with a sense of relief 
that I lay aside the burdens and responsibilities inci- 
dent to the duties of a senator. My work here may 



394 Life of John W. Kern 

not have been very effective, but for the last four 
years it has been hard, continuous and very earnest 
w^ork, taxing heavily at times my health and strength, 
and I shall lay my armor by in happy anticipation 
of rest and the enjoyment of the delights of home life. 

"My party associates here have twice conferred 
upon me the highest honor in their power to bestow 
and have given me generous and constant proofs of 
their hearty good will, and I can look back over the 
last four years and through the heated debates and 
exciting contests without being able to call to mind 
a single word or act on the part of any Republican 
senator indicating the slightest ill will. 

"So, Mr. President, my chief, if not my only re- 
gret, in leaving this distinguished company is be- 
cause it involves a separation from friends who have 
grown very dear to me. These friends, thank God, 
are on both sides of the center aisle; and the memory 
of these friendships will cheer and comfort me dur- 
ing the remaining years of my life. 

"Mr. President, every man who engages in politi- 
cal or other contests hopes for success, and defeat 
under any circumstances is usually attended by feel- 
ings of disappointment if not humiliation; but the 
man who is not prepared to accept defeat with ap- 
parent cheerfulness and in a manly way would do 
well to avoid the arenas of political conflict. 

"In my case the sting of defeat in the late election 
was greatly mitigated by the fact that my successful 
opponent is my neighbor, and more than a third of 
a century has been my warm personal friend; so that 
my pride in his promotion largely compensates for 



The Closing of a Career 395 

the natural regret at my own defeat. I stated after 
the election and repeat it in this presence, that if I 
had been permitted or required to chose a Republi- 
can successor I would, without hesitation, have 
named the Hon. Harry S. New. He is a splendid 
gentleman, a high-minded, patriotic American citi- 
zen who will wear the robes of office with modesty 
and dignity. It is a matter of very great satisfaction 
to me to know that the splendid commonwealth of 
Indiana will be represented by two of her native sons, 
w^ho, I am sure, will serve their state and country 
with honor and distinction. 

"In conclusion permit me to repeat that I shall 
leave here happy that I shall be free from burdens 
often onerous and oppressive, rich in the friendship 
of my fellow senators, which I shall always cherish 
as among my dearest possessions, sorrowing only be- 
cause the companionships which have given me so 
much delight and so many hours of happiness must 
be severed. 

"May God bless you, every one." 

Because of the sincerity with which he spoke, and 
the personal affection felt for him by the majority 
of senators of both parties he struck a chord which 
responded instantly when Senator Henry Cabot 
Lodge of Massachusetts rose on the Republican side 
of the center aisle. Nothing could have given greater 
pleasure to Senator Kern. While differing widely 
on most public questions of a political nature, the 
Massachusetts senator being a conservative Republi- 



396 Life of John W. Keen 

can and Kern a radical Democrat, there was much 
in the character and career of the brilliant historian, 
orator and statesman that made a strong appeal to 
the Indiana senator. Aside from a personal fondness 
for the Republican leader, a profound admiration 
for his gifts, the career of Lodge in its continuity and 
security appealed to Kern as the ideal one for a pub- 
lic man. It was precisely the career he would have 
liked. This, a little side-light on Kern's real nature: 
in the summer of 1915, after reading the last page of 
Lodge's "Early Memories," and expressing the hope 
that the author would continue his recollections 
through his congressional career, he laid the book 
down with the comment : 

"I know of no man in public life whose career I 
envy more than that of Lodge." 

Senator Lodge said: 

"Mr. President, among the trials, the cares, the 
labors, and sometimes the bitterness that public life 
brings there are rewards. They are neither so many 
nor so delightful as the outside world may suppose, 
but there are some very real rewards. One of them, 
the chiefest, perhaps, is to be found in the friend- 
ships and associations which men closely associated 
together as we are in this chamber are certain to 
form, but like most happinesses and rewards in this 
world, they have their inevitable penalty connected 
with them. The penalty comes in the severance of 
the friendships, by the partings that must occur. 



The Closing of a Career 397 

These partings come to us here every two years. 
They bring sorrow, not the 'sweet sorrow' of Shake- 
speare's immortal lovers, but a very real sorrow 
which grows more serious and more grim as the years 
pass by and age advances. 

"It is with a feeling of great sorrow that I — and I 
am sure that I express the sentiments of all other 
senators — find myself compelled to part with the sen- 
ator from Indiana. He has been the official leader 
of his party during four years, a position which has 
put him in the front of conflict. I can only say that 
he has borne himself with fairness, with courtesy, 
with unvarying good temper to those opposed to him, 
and, Mr. President, wholly apart from that, I am 
sure that the feeling I am about to express is shared 
by all. We are losing a friend. He has been to me 
not only a very valued friend, but a very good friend, 
and it is sad for me to think that he is about to with- 
draw from the interests and activities we have so 
long shared together. His kindness, his good temper, 
and the generosity he has just shown in his cordial 
words with regard to his successor have endeared 
him to us all. It is hard to say 'good bye,' and I will 
not say it, but I will say that he goes back to private 
life carrying with him the affectionate regard of all 
those who have been associated with him here, quite 
as much of those who sit on this side of the aisle as 
of those who sit on the other side. He carries with 
him every good wish that we can give for his health, 
his happiness, and his peace of mind in the years to 



398 Life of John W. Kern 

As soon as Senator Lodge resumed his seat Senator 
Hoke Smith of Georgia, secretary of the interior 
during the second Cleveland administration, rose on 
the Democratic side of the chamber. 

"Mr. President," he said, "it is not necessary for 
Democratic senators to tell Senator Kern, the senate 
and the country how much we esteem him and how 
much we will miss him. 

"Just two years after he came here he was elected 
by his Democratic associates their leader. Two years 
later he was again unanimously elected their leader. 

"He has with great ability, with marked tact, with 
perfect fairness, and with uniform courtesy, served 
them as their leader and served with his associates as 
senator. 

"We all honor him; yes, and he will always have 
our warmest love." 

Meanwhile Senator James E. Watson, the Repub- 
lican senator from Indiana, who was out of the 
chamber at the time Senator Kern made his remarks, 
was notified by one of his colleagues and returned 
immediately to the chamber and, upon being recog- 
nized, spoke on behalf of the citizenship of Indiana, 
regardless of party aiBliations. He said: 

"Mr. President, I was out of the chamber when the 
news was brought to me that my distinguished col- 
league had uttered an address of farewell to the mem- 
bers of this body, with which he has been so long 
associated, and I felt that I could not let the oppor- 



The Closing of a Career 399 

tunity pass without paying my tribute of respect to 
him as a man and as a citizen and as a neighbor. 

"It is indeed a characteristic of the American peo- 
ple, and a most fortunate one, that in the midst of a 
great emergency like that which confronts us at this 
time, and an agitation almost international that seems 
to be centered here for the moment, we can even tem- 
porarily lay it aside to pay a tribute of respect to one 
who is about to depart from our midst. This shows, 
Mr. President, that after all, behind all political 
divisions, we are one in sentiment and one in aspira- 
tions, and one in patriotic purpose. 

"Of the service of my colleague here I shall not 
speak, because you are more familiar with that than 
I am; and I only rise for the purpose of expressing 
the feeling of the people of Indiana for this distin- 
guished Hoosier who is about to return to the body 
of her citizenship. As a senator, as reporter of the 
supreme court, as the candidate of his party twice 
for the governorship, as the candidate of his party 
for the vice-presidency, he has ever displayed those 
characteristics that have endeared him to the people 
of the state; and as you say farewell to him here, the 
people of Indiana bid him hail and welcome, be- 
cause there he will be loved by many and admired 
by all." 

Senator Stone followed with a tribute to Kern's 
"fine qualities of mind and heart, his manliness, his 
courtesy, his gentleness, his wisdom," and added that 
"during my service here there has been no man who 
has gone out of the senate more beloved or whose 



400 Life of John W. Kern 

absence will be more sincerely regretted." And Sen- 
ator Thomas of Colorado referred to the "testimonial 
of affection and esteem" which had been drawn up 
by the Democratic senators as "an earnest although 
an entirely inadequate expression of their love and 
affection." 

This testimonial was drawn up in the chamber of 
Vice-President Marshall on the vice-presidential sta- 
tionery. This paper, bearing the signatures of fifty- 
two senators, and drawn up and signed in the midst 
of the excitement and acrimonies of the fight on the 
armed ship measure, follows: 

THE vice-president's CHAMBER 
WASHINGTON 

March 3, 1917. 
"We hereby desire to express to our good friend 
and Democratic colleague from Indiana, 

Hon. John W. Kern, 
our appreciation of his uniform courtesy, fairness 
and consideration for each and all of us during the 
whole time he has filled the position of leader of the 
Democratic majority in the senate and the affection- 
ate regard we hold him, as well as our admiration for 
his ability, kindliness and attainments." 

On the same day his personal friend, Vice-Presi- 
dent Marshall, sent Senator Kern a personal note 
which was all the more appreciated because of the 
genuineness of the friendship behind it: 



The Closing of a Career 401 

THE vice-president's CHAMBER 
WASHINGTON 

3rd March, 19 17. 
"Dear John Kern : It is not as lawyer, statesman, 
senate leader that we say farewell. That were easy. 
But to say it as friend to friend, that is hard. May 
we say hail again to you often. 

"Thos. R. Marshall." 

These tributes of affection and respect were all the 
more remarkable because of the conditions under 
which they were paid. The capitol was in a state of 
considerable excitement because of the bitterness of 
the fight being waged over the bill granting the 
president power to arm our merchant ships. The 
country was in ferment over the measure and little 
else was thought of in the senate. Many, indeed the 
great majority of senators, had taken their departure 
in peaceful days without comment from their col- 
leagues from the floor. The exception in the case of 
Kern was due not only to the important part he had 
played during four years of remarkable legislative 
activity, and the even-tempered and conscientious 
manner in which he had met the onerous duties of 
leadership, but quite as much to personal qualities 
which had, through life, endeared him to those who 
knew him best. He was deeply moved by these im- 
pressive manifestations of regard, and particularly 
pleased with the generous and kindly attitude of the 



402 Life of John W. Kern 

men he had politically opposed. This was accentu- 
ated a few days later by a personal letter from Sen- 
ator Lodge saying that "in the midst of the excite- 
ment of that closing day I felt very strongly how un- 
finished and imperfect all that I said in regard to 
your leaving the senate necessarily was," and reiter- 
ating his expression of regret. 

Thus after forty-seven years of constant political 
activity, and many years of public service. Senator 
Kern passed to private life rarely honored by his col- 
leagues in the senate, respected by his political oppo- 
nents, regretted by the president and his cabinet, and 
trusted by the dominate political party of the nation 
of which he had been a potential leader in victory 
and defeat. 



CHAPTER XX 
The Real Kern : A Composite Portrait 



TO the great majority who knew Senator Kern 
as he appeared in court, in social circles, in the 
free and easy environment of convention and cam- 
paign, his geniality created the impression that he 
always preferred company to solitude. To the com- 
parative few who knew him in the routine inter- 
course of daily contact he was exactly the opposite 
— one of the most reticent of men, given to the keep- 
ing of his own councils. Few men have disclosed 
their mental processes to a less degree. Throughout 
the greater portion of his life, when confronted with 
a problem, personal, political, or professional, he re- 
tired within himself and in solitude worked it out. 
At one period of his life when called upon to reach 
a decision on any matter of moment it was his prac- 
tice to shut himself in a room alone and for hours 
debate the pros and cons over a game of solitaire. 
As his problems multiplied in numbers and grew in 
importance after his election to the senate this reti- 
cence intensified, and his tendency to withdraw 
within himself became more pronounced. At times 
when he was grappling with one of his numerous 



404 Life of John W. Kern 

problems he would relax into sociability in moments 
of his own choosing, but he was passionately intoler- 
ant of intrusion at other times. He would often lock 
himself up in his committee room at the capitol, but 
more frequently he would hide himself in his private 
room in the Senate Office building, which was not 
connected with his public offices and inaccessible to 
the uninitiated by telephone. He alone carried the 
key and even those occupying the most confidential 
relations with him dared not intrude upon him there. 
Here he would sometimes shut himself in for hours 
at a time. 

In this connection it is proper to emphasize a men- 
tal trait with which he was probably not popularly 
credited — an extraordinary power of concentration. 
Engaged in working out a problem he was able to 
bring all his mental powers to bear upon just that, 
and put all else beyond his consciousness. At such 
times he was utterly oblivious to anything that might 
be transpiring about him, and nothing could divert 
him. 

It was not his habit to rush speedily to conclusions. 
He viewed the problem, always a political one after 
he entered the senate, from every possible angle. He 
weighed all reasons, for and against, with scrupulous 
care, brushing aside all prejudices, and coldly analyz- 
ing all possibilities. And he seldom acted at once on 
his first conclusion. Time and again he would return 



The Real Kern: A Composite Portrait 405 

to this debate within his own mind, in the meanwhile 
guarding his mental processes from all others. 

This called for another trait which he possessed to 
an infinite degree — an untiring patience. Others 
might act on prejudice or impulse — he never did. 
And while others were often confusing the issue he 
was seeking the solution. And this quality was quite 
as prominent where his own personal interests were 
involved. Nothing could startle him into inconsid- 
ered action. He took his time. He was in the habit 
of permitting his political enemies to exhaust their 
ammunition while he, unmoved, apparently indiffer- 
ent, almost oblivious to the attack, withheld his fire. 
And very often the result was that he did not think 
it worth while to fire. Frequently he struck, when 
forced to fight, with such subtlety that the wounded 
adversary did not know whence the blow had come. 
He could hear of these attacks with scarcely any 
show of curiosity, and almost invariably without 
comment, unless it be in the nature of a witticism. 
He first gauged his foe and planned his battle ac- 
cordingly — aiming unerringly at the vulnerable heel. 

There was something almost uncanny in his ability 
to ignore an attack and appear to be in ignorance of 
an affront. 

II 

Throughout his life Senator Kern was a volumi- 
nous letter-writer and notwithstanding the extent of 



406 Life of John W. Kern 

his correspondence he stubbornly refused to resort to 
such labor-saving devices as stenography until to- 
ward the close of his life when overwhelmed with 
the multiplicity of duties. It was his life-long habit 
to reply to every letter he received, no matter how 
trivial its nature, with pen and ink. With him letter 
writing was not a lost art and he liked to write when 
he had the time. 

There was an art to a Kern letter. He knew how, 
better than most men of his generation, to put per- 
sonality, individuality, atmosphere into a note. No 
one ever put more tenderness into a letter of sym- 
pathy, more jollity into one of congratulation, more 
comradry into a letter to a friend or occasionally 
more biting sarcasm or sting into one to an enemy. 
Enveloped in tobacco smoke, he would write slowly 
by the hour, with infinite patience, painstaking in 
his phrasing, and his chirography was as clear, indi- 
vidual and beautiful as that of James Whitcomb 
Riley. To the vast majority of letters that reached 
him in connection with the routine business of the 
senate he did not personally reply for that would 
have been an impossibility, but letters of a fault- 
finding nature were by his direction always called to 
his attention. In some cases where the motive was 
apparent he made no reply, but in cases where the 
writer was laboring under a misapprehension, or 
honestly differed in his views, he would write at 



The Real Keen: A Composite Portrait 407 

length with pen and ink, setting his correspondent 
right. Nor did it make any difference whether the 
correspondent was known to him personally or by 
reputation or not, if he was a constituent he went 
upon the theory that he was entitled to a response. 
These letters almost invariably brought apologetic 
replies, and many warm friends and supporters were 
made from among strangers who were thus im- 
pressed with the honesty of his own views and his 
genuine desire for the respect and good will of his 
fellow men. 

His method of preparing such speeches as were 
formally prepared was also unique. Except for espe- 
cially important occasions it was not his custom to 
write political speeches or special occasion addresses. 
He would arrange the headlines in his mind and 
nothing more. 

Unlike most public men he did not dictate the 
speeches he prepared, but he would shut himself up 
in his room with a supply of cigars, a rough scratch 
pad and several sharpened pencils and write them 
slowly and carefully in the same beautiful chirog-, 
raphy which gave such character to his letters. Even 
in the longest and most important of these there was 
scarcely any eliminations or additions — the copy was 
clean. They might have been copied rather than cre- 
ated, judging from the absence of erasures or emend- 
ations. 



408 Life of John W. Kern 

III 

There was a deep undercurrent of religious rever- 
ence in Senator Kern which did not flout itself upon 
the surface. Reference has been made to his conver- 
sion at a revival meeting during his boyhood when 
for a time he became ardent in his devotion to re- 
ligious duties, and while this phase passed, he re- 
tained through life a profound reverence for sacred 
things. During the greater portion of his life, while 
retaining his membership with the Presbyterian 
church, he was not much given to church attendance. 
This was not due to any compromise with his faith. 
He was not interested in dogma or creed. He cared 
little for the outer manifestations of the spirit of 
worship. He seldom quoted from the Bible in his 
speeches and had a horror of the politician who at- 
tempts to capitalize his religion. The thought of the 
life beyond was to him too solemn for conversational 
purposes. He never or seldom discussed it. But he 
never permitted himself to doubt it. His veneration 
for the cloth asserted itself less in tributes to the dig- 
nity of the clergy than in his occasional excoriations 
of members of the clergy who lowered their dignity 
and compromised their religion by lending them- 
selves to the support of inhumanity. For the min- 
ister from Lawrence, Massachusetts, who appeared 
for the mill owners at the strike hearings in Wash- 



The Real Kern: A Composite Portrait 409 

ington to gravely assure the committee that there was 
a good moral effect in throwing children of twelve 
and thirteen into factories to labor for a pittance 
while paying the mill owners for the cold water that 
they drank rather than permit them to play "in the 
streets" in the sunshine he had no words with which 
to express his contempt. The only letter protesting 
against the passage of the child labor law that he 
cared to notice was from a minister of the cotton mill 
section — and it blazed with indignant protest against 
— not the protest, but the source of it. 

He had the average man's appreciation of the oc- 
casional value of an explicative, but he never lightly 
played with the name of his Creator. And he had a 
quiet contempt for the man who did. 

No man ever put more of the genuine spirit of 
Christianity into his political philosophy. He loved 
his fellow men. And throughout his life he particu- 
larly concerned himself with the alleviation of suf- 
fering whenever possible, and the amelioration of 
the condition of the poor. Because of that quality he 
was sometimes looked upon as not quite "respectable" 
by some more prone to pose in prayer in the market 
places. For these, too, he had a profound contempt. 

It was in his attitude toward his fellow men that 
he disclosed the profundity of his religious convic- 
tions. He had faith — it followed him from the cradle 
to the grave. 



410 Life of John W. Kern 

I have before me a letter by Kern to his sister, 
Sarah, on the death of her little boy, which so per- 
fectly mirrors the man and his religious views: 

"KOKOMO, January 4, 1883. 

"Dear Sister — Father's letter, containing the sad 
news of the death of your little Frank was received 
to-day, and I hasten to write you. Our hearts are full 
of loving sympathy for you in this terrible affliction 
and we would like to be able to be with you to mingle 
our tears with yours, and try to say something to 
break the force of the overpowering sorrow which 
has come so heavily upon you. The brave, sturdy 
little fellow. We imagined him in perfect health, 
rollicking about your fireside enjoying the holiday 
season — the pride and joy of all of you. And to hear 
of his death. It startled and shocked us and saddened 
our household almost as much as though it had been 
our child, for we had all become so attached to him 
during our long stay with you. While death is ter- 
rible, and while great heart-breaking grief always 
follows, yet there are other matters to be considered 
in the case of the death of children especially which 
ought to go a long way in the direction of comforting 
the heart. 

"He is safe. The possibilities of evil, which go 
along with all boys and which increase as they grow 
older, are no more. There is now no danger for little 
Frank. His footsteps need not now be guarded — 
there need be no anxiety in the mother's heart for the 
future of her boy. His future is not only secure, but 
it is a future resplendent with glory. Had he lived 



The Real Kern: A Composite Portrait 411 

a long, useful life, he could never have attained that 
happiness which is now and always will be his. 

"I was thinking to-day of the comfort there is in 
afflictions like this in the religion of the Bible. With- 
out it what gloom and utter hopelessness. With it the 
future is full of good cheer and joyous anticipations. 
Accepting it as true — and let no doubt ever obtrude 
itself — then must we not believe that our good, pure 
angel mother who has been waiting over there so long 
welcomed little Frank with exceeding great joy as 
the representative of her own children whom she left 
so long ago and toward whom her heart went in such 
tender solicitude? 

"My dear sister, your little boy is safe. He was the 
first of our family to be welcomed by her whose mem- 
ory we treasure so fondly. From this on there will be 
more frequent additions to the family in the summer- 
land of happiness — one by one we will be summoned 
there, until, ere long, the family circle will be com- 
pleted, and every sorrow and pang of grief will be 
forgotten in the perfect happiness of heaven. Let not 
this picture be marred. We must all see to it that it 
is not. We must. I feel that we will all gather to- 
gether over there, parents, children, grandchildren, 
and together enjoy forever the glories of the land of 
love. 

"Let not your heart be troubled. There can be no 
more sorrow for the little boy. No ill can ere betide 
him now. Trust in God w^ho doeth all things well. 
Let His will be done. God bless and comfort you. 
"Your loving brother, 

"John." 



412 Life of John W. Kern 

IV 
In personal appearance Senator Kern was always 
slender and never very robust, and in his younger 
days this was the more noticeable because of his cus- 
tom of afifecting the Prince Albert coat of the period 
and the high silk hat. Soon after leaving Ann Arbor 
he permitted his beard to grow to a considerable 
length and as the political "speaker with the long 
black beard" he was known through the length and 
breadth of the state for many years. His height, 
slender form, black beard, and keen, penetrating 
dark eyes, an inheritance from his mother, made him 
in his youth an impressive figure. In later years he 
abandoned the Prince Albert for a business man's 
sack suit, and seldom wore a silk hat except on state 
occasions. His beard, now gray, was cropped short 
and little more than covered his chin, but the memory 
of the flowing beard persisted in the minds of the 
cartoonists and curbstone wits, and constant refer- 
ence, which was offensive to him, was made to his 
beard which differed little from that of Harrison or 
Fairbanks and was a very modest affair compared to 
that of Hughes. He never indicated, however, that 
he cared for the strained witticisms about his beard, 
and when an acquaintance, presuming upon his 
friendship, wrote him and suggested that he part 
with it after his election to the senate he merely wrote 



The Real Kern: A Composite Portrait 413 

that "the beard has been attached to me so long it 
would be an act of base ingratitude to desert it now." 
His eyes, always his finest feature, never lost their 
luster or fire. He was always perfectly groomed 
without being noticeably so. 

V 

In some quarters he had the reputation of being 
cold and unappreciative, but this was due to his tem- 
peramental inability to gush, and he had more of a 
tendency among men to conceal rather than reveal his 
affections. No senator was ever served by assistants 
with greater zeal, fidelity or personal devotion, and 
yet with one or two exceptions he never by word of 
mouth in the course of six years gave any expression 
of his appreciation; and this reticence, together with 
an apparent coldness, due to preoccupation, was dis- 
couraging to them at first. Then during some recess 
or absence and when many miles away and without 
any special occasion for it he would write a letter 
teeming with affectionate appreciation. Perhaps a 
little later on he would return, and entering the office 
as though he had just left it, he would sometimes 
pass by with a scant nod and a faint smile and with- 
out pausing for a chat. He had a great heart, but he 
did not carry it upon his sleeve. 

This was shown in his attitude toward members 
of his family, to whom he was tenderly devoted — he 



414 Life of John W. Kern 

seldom mentioned them even among his intimates. 
That he kept for and to himself. 

And yet, as the old viking, Andrew Furseth, w^ho 
knew, said few men were more prone to take unto 
themselves the troubles and sorrows of others. After 
hearing the pathetic story of the suffering of the 
wives and children of the striking miners of Colo- 
rado, and looking upon the pictures of some of the 
slaughtered innocents, he sat smoking in silence for 
a long while, with the saddest expression on his face 
and in his eyes that I have ever seen. And that was 
not a pose — there was only one there to see, and Kern 
was scarcely conscious of his presence. Finally com- 
ing out of his revery and observing the presence of 
another, he smiled rather sadly and remarked, "Well, 
I guess God reigns and the government at Washing- 
ton still lives." 

The Kern of the out-of-doors was not the same man 
as the Kern of the closet, and popular and likeable as 
the Kern of the out-of-doors was, the Kern of the 
closet was infinitely the greater — and the real Kern. 

VI 

As a companion in moments of relaxation Kern 
had few equals, and no one appreciated this more 
than his congressional cronies at Congress Hall 
Hotel, where he made his home during his service in 
the senate. When he first went to Washington he 



The Real Kern: A Composite Portrait 415 

took up his residence here, but in the fall of 19 ii he 
went to the Arlington, near the White House, feeling 
that this would encourage him to walk more. But 
the somber dignity and aloofness of that ancient hos- 
telry soon palled upon him, and a longing for the 
companionship of his friends soon drove him back 
to Congress Hall. 

I am indebted to Henry A. Barnhart for a picture 
of the Kern of Congress Hall : 

''Socially speaking. Senator Kern gave little atten- 
tion to society functions in the national capital and 
yet he was a social favorite. He rarely went out ex- 
cept on state occasions, when his leadership in the 
senate necessitated his presence to add dignity or im- 
portance to occasions; where the foremost of the na- 
tion's official leaders assembled in social formality. 
Seldom, indeed, did he ever attend the theater, while 
golf, baseball and other like recreations, resorted to 
by many great men as relaxation for tired minds and 
bodies, had no attraction for him. Likewise he was 
not a churchgoer and yet he had a sacred and pro- 
found regard for the church and for sincere religious 
convictions. Although a constant reader, cheap fic- 
tion was not a pastime for him and in his reading, 
like his physical relaxations, he did everything to 
rest except rest. When he read he worked industri- 
ously at it and it was something worth while. 

"The senator was socially at his best when in an 
environment of informality, and gained largest relief 
from fatigue or responsibilities when surrounded by 



416 Life of John W. Kern 

a group of congenial friends at Congress Hall Hotel, 
where he lived during his official career in Washing- 
ton. His hotel life was methodical. He went to bed 
at ten o'clock every night and was at the breakfast 
table at eight in the morning. After supper each 
evening (or dinner, as fashionable Washington calls 
it) he would retire to his room and recline in a com- 
fortable chair and there for an hour, under canopy 
of smoke from a 'home made' cigar, he would read 
the evening papers. Then he would go down to the 
lobby of the hotel and there join the 'statesman's 
circle' and lightly or seriously discuss the issues of 
the day, swap refreshing anecdotes of laughable inci- 
dents on the hustings, in the courts and in politics, 
and rarely failing to illustrate some feature of the 
conversation by recounting some misfortune or act of 
unsophistication of his boyhood career in a village 
neighborhood near his dear Kokomo, or of his strug- 
gles to gain a footing in law or politics. Not only did 
he love to indulge in personal reminiscences, but even 
more did he enjoy communing with memories of 
happy association with brilliant and picturesque men 
of other days in every county in Indiana. His fund 
of true-to-life stories was voluminous and ever de- 
lightful. He could not 'hold a candle' to Champ 
Clark in recital of rare and fascinating biography of 
great men, but in dramatic or quaint description of 
their striking or peculiar characteristics and in por- 
trayal of the attributes which made them conspicu- 
ous as state or national figures he was a delight ex- 
traordinary. 



The Real Kern: A Composite Portrait 417 

"Also in friendly repartee and ready wit he was a 
great favorite. Speaking of his passive regard for 
the theater, the wife of a well-known Indiana con- 
gressman one evening approached her husband and 
the senator, as they were indulging in their daily 
visit, and inquired of the former if she should order 
tickets for an evening with the drama, then on at a 
Washington playhouse. When advised to do so she 
invited the senator to accompany them. 'Is it a good 
laugh?' he inquired. 'No,' she said, 'but next week 
Montgomery and Ward (slip of the tongue for 
Montgomery and Stone) are to be here in the Red 
Mill and that will be a laugh for you.' 'Delightful,' 
the senator replied, 'when will Sears and Roebuck 
be here?' 

"One evening the lone Socialist of the house was 
regaling a group, of which Senator Kern was one, 
with an impassioned screed against whatever was and 
reached a climax in the vociferous explosion, 'My 
God, Senator, has reason been entirely dethroned?' 
'I guess it has,' was the senator's meek and pacific 
reply. 

"At another time the senator and one of his Demo- 
cratic congressional associates had been out to ad- 
dress a mass meeting and the congressman spoke first 
and used almost an hour of the hour and a half al- 
lotted to the two. When they returned to the hotel 
several gentlemen who had accompanied them gath- 
ered about them and one said, 'Congressman, better 
have a chair, you have made a very vigorous speech 
and are doubtless tired.' 'No, thank you,' replied the 



418 Life of John W. Kern 

congressman, *I do not care to sit down.' 'I noticed 
that when you were speaking,' was Kern's pat and 
mirth-provoking injection. 

"Two midle-aged Indiana congressmen always oc- 
cupied connecting bachelor apartments when their 
families were not with them, and one was telling the 
senator how the other seemed to be growing old and 
childish. 'Why, he sleeps with his watch under his 
pillow,' the solon said, 'to help him wake up in the 
morning and when I go in and call to him and tell 
him it is time to look at his watch he rears up like a 
wild horse and acts like one.' 'Probably frightened, 
in his half-awake condition,' said the senator, 'with 
apprehension that you are some constituent about to 
ask him a direct question as to where he stands on 
free garden seed.' 

"But the real milk of human kindness in Senator 
Kern's life was not touchingly revealed in his tireless 
devotion to the needy — to the underdog in the strug- 
gle for existence— and his patience with these was 
none the less marked than with the most influential 
in the country. And therefore what little social life 
he enjoyed was constantly invaded by innumerable 
callers with a mission of self help, to be relieved by 
the senator, and he would leave the social circle, 
leave his dinner table, and leave the helpful comfort 
of his bed when in ill health to see them, not only 
once, but again and again. 

"Ikdeed, none ever came to him for an audience 
and for hope in vain. Sometimes he would go to his 
room immediately after his supper and take one of 



The Real Kern: A Composite Portrait 419 

his congenial friends with him to get much-needed 
freedom from official cares and to rest through an 
informal chat. Once on such occasion, the writer 
saw him take down the telephone receiver and leave 
it off the hook, explaining that he did it that the 
hotel telephone operator could not ring him a call 
down into the lobby to give audience to some one 
who wanted official assistance. The receiver had been 
off the hook but a short time when the senator put 
it back, saying, 'Possibly some poor mortal might 
want to see me on a matter in which prompt action 
would mean happiness to him and delay would cause 
him despair, and I'd rather be harassed and nerve- 
worn by ninety-nine undeserving than to disappoint 
one in actual need of help.' So whether it was some 
dignified message bearer from the administration 
suggesting congressional action or some earnest rep- 
resentative of labor with a plea for legislative jus- 
tice, or some agent of business interests about to be 
affected by revenue taxes, or some governmental 
clerk 'in bad' with his chief, or some Oliver Twist 
in politics shoving up his plate for more, or some 
poor old woman with no family and few friends beg- 
ging that the wolf scratching at the door of her abode 
of squalor be driven away by official interference, all 
were alike patiently heard and so kindly treated that 
they went away with a lump of sugar in the mouth 
and a rising tide of hope eternal in the heart. 

"Therefore Senator Kern's social life while in con- 
gress consisted in evening indulgence in conversa- 
tional round tables with friends, who talked both 
business and pleasure, frequently interrupted by re- 



■J 



420 Life of John W. Keen 

quests of never-ending procession of favor hunters 
for official influence in their behalf. He disliked so- 
called caste and blue-blood breeding and society 
shams of whatsoever kind, preferring the compan- 
ionship of men and women of strength of character 
which lifted them above the frivolous, the irrespon- 
sible and the pretentious. 

"And so his social life was really a busy and a 
cheering life, and while in no sense a society man, 
socially he was the noble Roman par excellent." 
VII 

No one is so well qualified to tell the story of John 
Kern, the campaigner and man, as members of the 
newspaper fraternity who were assigned to "cover" 
him on many a tour, and called regularly at his of- 
fice for many years. There was something in the 
temperament of the average newspaper man that ap- 
pealed to him, and for practically all the reporters 
and correspondents who came into contact with him 
he formed personal friendship that was very real. 
This feeling was almost invariably reciprocated. 
The fact that many of these represented politically 
hostile papers made no difference with him. He was 
broad enough to understand. 

Among the gentlemen of the press peculiarly qual- 
ified to speak, not only because of extensive experi- 
ence with him, but because of the personal friend- 
ship that existed between him and them, are Louis 
Ludlow, the Washington correspondent, for many 



The Real Kern: A Composite Portrait 421 







'^^%'i^3^",>"-' 



From Kin Hubbard's Sketches 
OF His Tour with Kern in 
1904 — Indianapolis News 



years representative of The Indianapolis Sentinel 
and The Indianapolis Star;V^. H. Blodgett, the vet- 
eran political writer of The Indianapolis News, and 
Kin Hubbard, the cartoonist and creator of "Abe 
Martin," who frequently accompanied Kern upon 
his tours sketching the crowds, and whose work was 
a delight to the senator. These men knew the Kern 
of the campaign more intimately than the politicians 



422 Life of John W. Kern 

for he unburdened himself to them with greater free- 
dom and his confidence was never betrayed. 

VIII 

Among the press correspondents with whom Sen- 
ator Kern was associated for many years none were 
more intimately identified with him than Louis Lud- 
low, the Washington correspondent, for many years 
the representative at the national capitol of The In- 
dianapolis Sentinel and The Indiaiiapolis Star. I am 
indebted to Mr. Ludlow for the following reminis- 
cences : 

"The writer of this article campaigned with John 
W. Kern for five weeks in 1910 when he was con- 
testing with Mr. Beveridge for the senatorial toga. 
We shared together the exhilarating novelties and 
disappointing hardships, the bitter and the sweet, of 
that five weeks' strenuous tour. We rode together in 
the same rickety day-coaches and stuffy interurban 
cars, bunked at the same hotel and rooming houses, 
participated in the same miseries and inconvenience 
of travel inflicted upon us by a campaign schedule 
that knew neither rhyme or reason, and whatever so- 
cial recognitions came his way he very considerately 
insisted that I should share. He treated me in every 
respect as a comrade, although the paper I was writ- 
ing for at the time was politically hostile to him and 
was giving him an editorial wallop every day. 

"This was the longest period of intensive cam- 
paigning I ever had with Mr. Kern, and it gave me 



The Real Kern : A Composite Portrait 423 

a clearer insight into his human trait and interesting 
mental processes, as well as his breadth of vision and 
nobility of character, than I ever had before; but 
compared with my long association with him, he as 
a leader of his party in state and nation and I as a 
newspaper writer, this five weeks' tour was but a 
brief span. I had long before and on many occasions 
campaigned with Mr. Kern up and down Indiana, 
criss-cross and in every other way, and his office in 
the Stevenson, afterward the State Life building, was 
one of the stations on my daily beat at Indianapolis. 
I would no more have thought of letting a day pass 
without calling on Mr. Kern at least once than I 
would of going without my breakfast. In fact, as a 
zealous news gatherer I thought infinitely more of 
having my daily (often twice-daily) talk with Mr. 
Kern than of any mere culinary diversion. 

"Our acquaintance had extended over a rounded 
period of an even quarter of a century when this good 
man was called to his reward. When, as a green 
country boy from the backwoods with hayseed — lots 
of it — in my hair, I went to Indianapolis in 1892 to 
get a job on a newspaper, Mr. Kern took a friendly 
interest in me. Perhaps he thought I needed some 
attention; at any rate from that time to the hour of 
his death he was a true and loyal friend. He was 
even then a leader at the bar, and with the passing 
of Thomas A. Hendricks he easily held first rank as 
the most popular Democrat in Indiana. His office 
on North Pennsylvania street, Indianapolis, was a 
mecca for Democrats from every nook and corner of 
the state. I remember him as a tall, slender distin- 



424 Life of John W. Kern 

guished-looking man with jet black whiskers, worn 
much longer than the style of beard he affected in 
later years. 

"About that time the Indianapolis National Bank 
blew up, precipitating a train of sensations that shook 
the foundations of the state. Mr. Kern, who was in 
all the big cases in those days, was appointed attorney 
for the receiver of the bank. I was assigned by The 
Indianapolis Sun to cover the developments, and, 
speaking in the vernacular, it certainly was 'some' 
job for a cub reporter. I think I must have driven 
Federal Judges Baker and Woods nearly crazy try- 
ing to extract some news from the court, for I even 
called on them at their homes at unseemly hours, and 
if I had been a sophisticated reporter and they had 
not possessed a benevolent disposition they probably 
would have haled me up for contempt of court for 
some of the irregularities I committed. Mr. Kern 
was my particular prey. On one occasion, after I 
had had the boots scooped off me by a virile opposi- 
tion, I went to Mr. Kern, determined that hence- 
forth not the slightest atom of news about that bank 
failure should escape me. 

"'There isn't any news to-day; not a bit in the 
world,' he told me. 

" 'Well,' I said, making my last stand, 'have you 
heard any rumors?' 

"Mr. Kern often told me in after years that, con- 
sidering all the circumstances, my positiveness and 
the comical way I spoke, that was the funniest ques- 
tion ever put to him. He never got over it. The last 
time I called on him for news at his office in the fed- 



i 







426 Life of John W. Kern 

eral capitol he looked up from behind a stack of let- 
ters and said, quizzically: 

" 'Any rumors to-day?' 

"While Mr. Kern, while not in the public service, 
enjoyed a large law practice, he had a greater non- 
paying clientele than any other lawyer I ever knew. 
He was always giving freely of his time and talent, 
without money and without price. Sometimes he 
made charges that were ridiculously nominal, but in 
cases of poverty and distress he was more likely to 
make no charges at all, even in cases that involved a 
great deal of work. If all those whom he helped to 
get out of difficulties and keep out of trouble, with- 
out one cent of recompense, could be compiled it 
would be a long one. His law practice, to a very 
extraordinary extent, was made of unrewarded kind- 
nesses to others. 

"One day on entering his office I saw lying on a 
table a shining new quarter. I also saw at a glance 
that Mr. Kern was very much amused about some- 
thing. Then he told the story. 

"One of his numerous impecunious but devoted ad- 
mirers had been in difficulties and had come to him 
for advice on a law point. It was not an easy nut to 
crack and Mr. Kern spent the greater part of two 
days looking up the authorities and had given him a 
decision that fit the case and ended the trouble. The 
client was fully grateful and asked the amount of 
his bill. 

"Not a cent," was the reply. 

"The client was one of those self-important indi- 
viduals. He insisted. 



The Real Kern : A Composite Portrait 427 

" 'There is no charge; it's all right. Good luck to 
you,' protested Mr. Kern. 

" 'Now I'll tell you, John,' said the benevolent 
client with the air of one who was conferring a great 
favor, 'I never get anything without paying for it. 
Here's a quarter and if you'll stand by me I'll bring 
you some more business some time.' 

"So saying, he laid the twenty-five-cent piece on 
the table and Mr. Kern was so flabbergasted he let 
him go without saying another word. 

"Mr. Kern's honor shines through all his profes- 
sional transactions with an illuminating glow. I 
know an instance where a well-to-do man employed 
Mr. Kern as attorney in an alienation suit. The man 
was not altogether to blame; there were extenuating 
circumstances, but enough guilt to make the outcome 
exceedingly precarious if the aggrieved party car- 
ried out his threat to file suit, to say nothing of the 
notoriety. Mr. Kern was not one of those lawyers 
who believed in fostering litigation. In this case, as 
many others, he advised settlement out of court. His 
client virtually turned over his fortune to Mr. Kern 
with authority to afifect a settlement on the best terms 
possible. 

"After exercising his wonderful powers of diplo- 
macy and persuasion he (this was in his early days at 
the bar) returned to his client. 

" 'What would you say if I told you that I had 
settled your case for $10,000?' he asked. 

" 'I would say it is pretty high, but you have per- 
formed a real service for me and I'm glad to get 
out of it.' 



428 Life of John W. Keen 

" 'What would you say then if I told you I had 
settled for $8,000?' 

" 'That would be better; I would indorse that set- 
tlement right from the start.' 

" 'Then,' persisted Mr. Kern, 'what would you say 
if I told you I had settled for $5,000.' 

" 'I'd be tickled to death.' 

" 'Well,' said Mr. Kern, 'at the risk of a sudden 
termination of your earthly career I will tell you that 
this whole matter has been adjusted and that you are 
to pay only $1,000.' 

"And then, to top it all ofif, Mr. Kern charged him 
a nominal fee, finding his reward mainly in the satis- 
faction of having got somebody out of trouble. 

"Mr. Kern's sense of humor was exquisite. 
Whether in the court room or on the hustings the 
'human side' of things appealed to him with mighty 
force and often, especially in his younger days, when 
he was practicing in the courts of Kokomo his quick 
wit won his cases. On a certain occasion a Kokomo 
roisterer got into trouble and engaged Mr. Kern to 
defend him in a justice of the peace court. A hog 
knows infinitely more about Sunday than that justice 
knew about law. Mr. Kern saw that the only salva- 
tion for his client was to force through an immedi- 
ate trial. It was after dark when his client was haled 
into court. The squire adjusted his spectacles in a 
knowing way and said : 

" 'This case will be continued until to-morrow and 
the defendant will be remanded to the county jail.' 

" 'May it please the court,' said the young attorney, 
'nothing of the kind will be done. We are entitled 



The Real Kern : A Composite Portrait 429 

to justice speedily and without delay and this trial 
goes on.' 

" Will the attorney at the bar consent to tell this 
here court what is his authority for that statement?' 

" 'Certainly; it is contained right here in the bill 
of rights.' 

"Then Mr. Kern read that part which says that 
justice shall be speedy and without delay. 

" 'Would this court presume that it has the power 
to set aside that fundamental guarantee?' he asked 
dramatically. 

"The court remarked that he guessed his young 
friend 'knowed what he was talkin' about' and or- 
dered the trial to go on. A jury was impaneled, the 
trial lasted all night, and at daybreak Mr. Kern's 
client was cleared. This was one of many stories that 
Mr. Kern used to tell about justice as she was dis- 
pensed at Kokomo in his early manhood. 

"Mr. Kern had a way of making use of ridicule 
as a very effective weapon in a law suit. He could 
lampoon an adversary out of court and do it in a way 
that left no sting. A Republican state administration 
a decade or so ago started a crusade against Thomas 
Taggart's establishment at French Lick. A constable 
from the vicinity swooped down and made a raid. 
This was followed by proceedings brought in Judge 
Tom Van Buskirk's court at Paoli, looking, as I re- 
call it, toward a revocation of the charter. I was sent 
down to report the trial for an Indianapolis paper. 
Mr. Kern was attorney for Mr. Taggart and one of 
his first acts was to give me an interview, which he 
wrote in long hand, setting forth an imaginary de- 



430 Life of John W. Kern 

scription of the raid that had been conducted by the 
'one-eyed constable from Stamper Creek township.' 
It so happened that the valorous constable did have 
one eye as Mr. Kern, who knew everybody, was 
aware. The interview made bully copy and it caused 
that case to be laughed out of court. Thereafter the 
issues involved were obscured by the one outstand- 
ing feature — the 'one-eyed constable from Stamper 
Creek township.' 

"As a campaigner Mr. Kern never indulged in 
camouflage. He disdained, for instance, to resort to 
the usual artifices to work up a crowd. If people 
came to hear him he was glad, but he would not per- 
mit any spectacular side shows to drum up audiences. 
In some places during the memorable campaign of 
1910 the crowds that turned out were distressingly 
small, but those who -attended came because they 
were earnestly seeking to be enlightened and not 
solely to be entertained. Therefore it could always 
be said that his speeches rated very high from the 
standpoint of effectiveness. While he interspersed 
many stories and jokes throughout his speeches he 
never did so without pointing a moral and he often 
rose to the sublime heights of eloquence. He was so 
sociable, so easily approached, so companionable that 
he made friends everywhere and riveted them to him 
with hooks of steel. 

"The campaigning was strenuous and Mr. Kern 
was no longer young in years, but his buoyancy and 
ability to accommodate himself to situations as they 
arose enabled him to see the silver lining to every 
cloud. We had to arise in all hours of the night to 



The Real Kern: A Composite Portrait 431 

make train schedules. One night, in making the jump 
from Brownstovvn to Washington, Indiana, the train 
was due to arrive at Ewing, which is connected with 
Brownstown by two streaks of rust, shortly after mid- 
night. It was several hours late, however, and in a 
frolicsome mood Mr. Kern insisted that we arouse a 
village restaurateur and have him cook us a break- 
fast of his favorite kind, consisting of bacon and eggs. 
This the restaurateur did gladly and sent us on our 
way rejoicing. 

"An interesting contretemps occurred down in a 
town in the First district. The reception committee 
slipped a cog and we arrived without attracting at- 
tention and made our way to the best hotel in the 
town, which was none too good. No sooner had we 
deposited our luggage on the floor than in came the 
reception committee in a state of breathless agitation. 
Mr. Kern was beckoned to one side and the startling 
information was imparted to him that it would never 
do for him to stop at that hotel and that quarters had 
been reserved for him at a rooming house down the 
street. It seemed that there were two hotels in the 
place, both run by Democrats. Representative 
Boehne had been there a short time before and had 
stopped at the crackerjack hotel, and now it was im- 
peratively necessary, in order to preserve the politi- 
cal equilibrium, that Mr. Kern should stop at the 
place down the street. Being myself under no such 
restrictions of political expediency I turned in at the 
best hotel and had a good night's rest. Before I did 
so I went down the street to see how Mr. Kern was 
faring. His room was over a billiard hall and the 



432 Life of John W. Kern 

cracking of the ivories resounded for half a block. 
If I were made to guess I would say that he did not 
sleep a wink that night, but he accepted the situation 
with sweet resignation, just as he did every other 
situation in life. 

"On the interurban car returning to Evansville 
something happened. The car came to a standstill 
with a suddenness that caused everybody to pitch 
forward and then the lights went out. Without was 
Stygian darkness. It was a darkness that was abso- 
lutely black. After what seemed an interminably 
long time the motorman returned to the car, the con- 
ductor and motorman indulged in the usual bell talk 
preliminary to getting away and the car proceeded. 

" 'What did we hit back there?' Mr. Kern asked 
the motorman. 

" 'We hit a cow,' replied the motorman, none too 
pleasantly. 

"Quick as a flash Mr. Kern said: 'Permit me to 
congratulate you on being able to tell the gender of 
the animal on a night like this.' 

"The senatorial campaign ended with both of the 
candidates speaking in their home city, Indianapolis. 
The Republicans arranged as a grand finale a mon- 
ster meeting at Tomlinson Hall, preceded by a street 
parade in which it seemed that half of Marion 
county participated. On the Democratic side the 
plan was for a number of ward meetings, to be ad- 
dressed by the Democratic senatorial candidate. The 
brilliant genius who made the arrangements staged 
the last of these meetings, the very closing of the 
campaign, to take place in a south-side saloon. It 



The Real Kern : A Composite Portrait 433 

was to be a sort of hand-shaking affair. Mr. Kern 
was ushered into the room before he recognized the 
character of the place. He left immediately and that 
was the only time during the campaign when he 
showed any manifestations of anger. He expressed 
in plain terms his opinion of the dunderhead who 
had made the arrangements. 

"As a senator of the United States Mr. Kern at 
once took high rank in Washington and advanced in 
position and influence with a swiftness that was 
amazing. His election to the leadership of the con- 
trolling party after he had been a senator only a frac- 
tion of his first term was wholly without precedent. 
Hard, intelligent work, combined with personal pop- 
ularity, won for him a prestige never before accorded 
to a first termer. He saw through the thin veneer of 
Washington society and formed an intense dislike 
for its sham. Aside from White House functions and 
those of a few senatorial friends, about the only din- 
ners and receptions he attended were those occasion- 
ally given by Indianians, and then he sometimes got 
his dates curiously mixed. An instance that Vice- 
President Marshall relates occurred one night when 
Mr. Kern was discovered by the vice-president grop- 
ing his way through one of the halls of the Willard 
Hotel. The vice-president hailed him. 

" 'Where do you think you are going, John?' he 
asked. 

" 'I am going to your apartment to take dinner 
with you,' was the reply. 

" 'That can't be because I am going out to dinner 
now.' 



434 Life of John W. Keen 

" 'But you invited me,' said the senator. 

" 'Look at your invitation,' came back the vice- 
president, who could hardly restrain his mirth. 

"Senator Kern did so and a light broke. The invi- 
tation was for the next night. They had a good laugh 
together. On the next night the senator forgot all 
about the invitation and did not attend. All of which 
illustrates the fact that when it came to society mat- 
ters he was not a J. Hamilton Lewis. 

"It would be impossible to speak of Senator 
Kern's successful regime as a leader of the greatest 
law-making body in the world without paying a high 
tribute to the personal equation. 

"His magnetic and lovable personality held sway 
in the senate and made him the greatest conciliator 
among all the leaders that held that position of high 
responsibility. In ironing out differences and bring- 
ing contending elements together he was the master. 

"It "would be impossible to speak of Senator 
southern senator once remarked, 'except to say that 
you can't talk with him two minutes without falling 
in love with him. He captivates you, sub.' 

"Perhaps this explains why Senator Kern, a north- 
ern man, never lacked southern support in the senate, 
although the party leaders almost invariably have 
been southern men. Nor was there any semblance of 
the mailed fist in his leadership. He made it a point 
to cultivate friendly relations with all the senators. 
They regarded him as a companion and a comrade. 
He had a joke for every occasion and sometimes a 
playful senator would perpetrate a joke on the leader. 

"I shall never forget an occasion, for instance, 



The Real Keen : A Composite Portrait 435 

when Senator Kern received a letter from Senator 
Saulsbury of Delaware, now the president pro tern, 
of the senate. Senator Kern had been lecturing Dem- 
ocratic senators on the necessity of maintaining a 
quorum and the evils of absenteeism. Senator Sauls- 
bury had planned a cherished trip to Europe and one 
fine day, unknown to Senator Kern, he set sail from 
New York. When the outgoing vessel passed Sandy 
Hook he sat down and wrote a letter to Senator Kern 
that bristled with belligerency. He told him he had 
grown tired of his 'tyrannical rule' of the 'autocratic' 
senate leader and had decided to 'set himself free.' 
He bade defiance to the senate 'boss' and dared him 
to cross the pond and get him. Of course the anger 
assumed in the letter was all camouflage, as better 
friends than Senators Kern and Saulsbury never 
lived. Some months later when Senator Saulsbury 
returned they had a merry laugh over it. One could 
as easily imagine the Washington monument bend- 
ing over to salute the morning sun as to think of a 
kittenish senator issuing such a challenge for exam- 
ple to Senator Martin, the predecessor and successor 
of Senator Kern in the senate leadership. 

"In my capacity as one of the correspondents at 
the capitol I naturally was brought into close con- 
tact with the leader. Senator Kern was fond of tak- 
ing long walks and frequently I was with him on 
these strolls. His high position did not make the 
slightest modification in his democratic ways. Cor- 
respondents could go to him at any hour of the day or 
night with perfect assurance that they would receive 
courteous treatment and straightforward answers. 



436 Life of John W. Kern 

We met on unusual occasions as, for instance, when 
we stood up as witness at the wedding of two dear 
friends, now Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Ryan. 

"This same Mr. Ryan was the 'Bill' Ryan who 
was featured in some of Mr. Kern's speeches back in 
the 1910 campaign. He would challenge the correct- 
ness of statistics presented on the stump by the Re- 
publican speakers to prove that their administration 
of afifairs had been a success. He would point out 
that figures are misleading unless one knows how to 
analyze them. 

" 'They remind me of Bill Ryan's watch,' he would 
say. 'When the hour hand points to eight and the 
minute hand to three Bill knows it is half past four.' 

"The brightest senate page I ever knew bore the 
euphonious nickname of 'Christopher Columbus.' 
His real name was Weirisk, but in a moment of fa- 
cetiousness I bestowed the name of 'Christopher Co- 
lumbus' upon him for no other reason than that he 
was born and reared at Columbus, Ohio. Though 
the name finally came to be abbreviated down to 
'Chris' it was as 'Chris' that he was known to scores 
of correspondents, to whose service he was assigned. 
He was as keen as a whip and bright as a new dollar, 
and, withal, had a sense of the dignity of his position 
and a constant care not to offend any one. 

"One afternoon I sent 'Chris' into the senate cham- 
ber to ask Senator Kern if I could see him. When 
the lad returned he was plainly agitated. He 
hemmed and hawed and made no response that I 
could understand. 



The Real Kern : A Composite Portrait 437 

" 'Mr. Ludlow,' he finally said, 'I don't like to tell 
you what Senator Kern told me.' 

"That was interesting. 

"'Why?' I asked. 

" 'Because it is not a bit favorable to you.' 

" 'Oh, pshaw, Chris,' I insisted, 'I haven't got all 
afternoon to waste. What did he say?' 

" 'Senator Kern told me to tell you to go to the hot 
place,' answered 'Chris,' who looked as if he would 
gladly have sacrificed his right arm rather than have 
delivered that message. Just then the senator came 
out of the chamber shaking with laughter. 

"A little later another page nearly fell over when 
Senator Kern, on being told that I would like to see 
him, asked whether I was 'drunk or sober.' Subse- 
quently he made that inquiry so often that the pages, 
who were my friends, learned to respond instantly, 
'Sober, sir.' 

"Senator Kern's kind heart made him the prey of 
impecunious and designing individuals who were al- 
ways trying to 'touch' him and seldom unsuccessfully. 

"One day the senator was called into the marble 
room by a smooth citizen who said he lived at El- 
wood, Indiana, and told of meeting the senator there 
when he was one of the appreciative and applaud- 
ing auditors. After recalling these pleasant and cir- 
cumstantial facts he wound up by asking the senator 
for the loan of the small sum of a dollar, which the 
senator readily granted, thankful that the request 
was not for ten dollars, the usual amount. 

"The senator then returned to the chamber and 



438 Life of John W. Kern 

was sitting by the side of his colleague, Senator 
Shively, when the same man sent in a card to the 
latter. Senator Shively went into the marble room 
and when he resumed his seat five minutes later Sen- 
ator Kern asked: 

" 'Who was your friend?' 

" *He was from Elwood and he just wanted to talk 
to me about old times. He recalled one occasion 
when I spoke at Elwood and he was kind enough to 
say it was a corking good speech.' 

" 'Honest Injun, Ben,' how much did he touch you 
for?' 

Senator Shively jumped as if startled. 

" 'Fifty cents,' he answered. 

" 'Well, that shows he thinks I am the better sen- 
ator. He stung me for a dollar,' said Kern. 

" 'No, I think he sized you up as the easier mark,' 
came back Shively, and they then adjourned to the 
cloak room and told the story to a group of senators, 
who enjoyed it hugely. 

"Reminiscences with Senator Kern as the central 
and radiating figure might be told by the hour, but 
even reminiscences must come to an end. It so hap- 
pened that I was the last man in Washington to bid 
him a final good-bye. He had come from his room 
at the Congress Hall Hotel and summoned a taxi to 
take him to the depot. Passing me at the entrance of 
the hotel he extended his hand and said, brave: 

"'Good-bye; I am going down to the sanatorium 
at Asheville to take a post-graduate course.' 

"I was inexpressibly shocked a few days later to 



The Real Kern : A Composite Portrait 439 

learn that his spirit had winged its flight to the 
blessed Summerland." 

IX 

After Mr. Ludlow no newspaper man was thrown 
into such frequent contact in the discharge of pro- 
fessional duties with Senator Kern as William H. 
Blodgett, who has been for so many years the politi- 
cal writer of The Indianapolis News. In campaign 
after campaign he has been assigned by his paper to 
cover the tours of the party leaders, and has reported 
all the conventions, state and national, for an equal 
period. He made one of the "Kern party" on prac- 
tically every important tour that Kern made during 
the last eighteen years of his career. Mr. Blodgett's 
reminiscences throw an interesting side light on the 
character of the senator: 

"When John W. Kern answered the final call there 
passed out of the lives of the newspaper fraternity 
one with whom they were always bound by a strong 
chain with links of admiration, respect, honor and 
friendship. To them it was not the United States 
senator who died. It was the man whose soul had 
gone away; and while the newspaper men may re- 
member for a time the public acts of John W. Kern 
as United States senator, so long as they live they will 
never forget his personal attributes, and his kind and 
courteous treatment of them; and the cold grave 
where he lies can never chill the steadfast, kindly 
and unfaltering friendship the men and women of 



440 Life of John W. Kern 

the press bore him — a friendship that can not be cal- 
culated. 

"It is doubtful if there is a public man between 
whom and the newspaper fraternity there were so 
many confidences. He trusted them, and they be- 
lieved in him, even if they did not at all times agree 
with his political policies. The political writers were 
always pleased when they were assigned to 'cover' 
John Kern. He was the best 'copy' in the United 
States, and day or night he. was always good for a 
story. Without journalistic experience himself, he 
knew just what kind of news the public wanted. He 
always had his ear to the ground, and many a good 
story for which the correspondent received a tele- 
gram of thanks from his managing editor was really 
worked out by Mr. Kern. He had no grades or 
classes among his newspaper friends — the small town 
reporter looked just as big to him as did the staff man 
from the metropolitan dailies, and he would go just 
as far to help the small town reporter as he would 
to assist the staff 'star.' My acquaintance with Sen- 
ator Kern began long years ago when I was a small 
town reporter. In a particular town that need not be 
named a young society man had been arrested, for 
what no one knew. The arrest was very quietly made 
by Ed Rathbone, who figured years afterward in 
Cuban affairs, and Rathbone tried to slip his prisoner 
out of town, but the local reporters caught them at 
the railway station. With considerable curtness he 
refused to talk with the reporters. A man carefully 
dressed, and with a pleasant smile, standing near by 
turned to Rathbone: 



The Real Kern: A Composite Portrait 441 

" 'Ed,' said he, 'there is no reason why these boys 
shouldn't have this item (that was before 'items' be- 
came dignified as 'stories'). 'It is in their territory 
and it will be interesting to the readers of their pa- 
pers, and anyhow it will come out as soon as you get 
to Indianapolis and these boys will be scooped.' 

" 'AH right, John, you can tell them,' replied Rath- 
bone, walking away. 

" 'Well, boys,' as we gathered around him, 'this is 
what it is all about' — and sitting on a baggage truck 
the stranger (I can see him now as plainly as I did 
then more than thirty years ago) he told us the story. 

" 'Who are you, and what part in this affair do you 
take?' one of our party asked. 

" 'I'm just an innocent bystander. My name is 
John W. Kern. I am a lawyer up at Kokomo, and I 
bumped into this thing accidentally.' Some of the 
small town reporters clustered about that baggage 
truck listening to Mr. Kern's recital of the story of 
the young man's arrest in later years became well 
known in journalistic work, and the friendship for 
Mr. Kern that began on the railway platform was 
never broken. Mr. Kern never changed that policy 
of dealing with newspaper men. The correspondents 
who campaigned with Mr. Kern were always sure 
of fair and equal treatment. He played no favorites. 
When he gave out a story every one got it. Knowing 
that a careless or indifferent reporter, or a repre- 
sentative of an unfriendly paper could cause him 
great annoyance, and perhaps deep injury by not 
truthfully quoting him, or twisting his language to a 
meaning other than what he intended to say, Mr. 



442 Life of John W. Kern 

Kern never asked the correspondents with him to 
submit their dispatches before putting them on the 
wire. He was willing to trust to their fairness and 
honor. 

" 'Gentlemen,' he would say at the beginning of 
the tour, 'I won't say anything that I do not wish 
published, and I know you won't send anything I 
don't say.' And among the hundreds of correspond- 
ents who 'covered' Mr. Kern in his long political 
career not one ever disappointed him. When John 
W. Kern was the principal figure in the noise and 
music of the feast the newspaper men with him were 
never forgotten. Reception committees might try to 
drag him away, but he would not be dragged. 

" 'There will be no show,' he used to tell the eager 
committeemen, each striving for the honor of leading 
him to his carriage or to the speaker's stand, 'until 
the orchestra is ready. 'I want the newspaper men 
put where they can see and hear.' And he would not 
move until the correspondents with him were pro- 
vided for. Once he was dragged to a boarding house 
by the reception committee, who thought it would 
be a good political stroke to have Mr. Kern take 
dinner with the boarding house keeper who was off 
the county ticket. The newspaper men returning 
from the telegraph office were met at the gate by 
Mr. Kern. 

" 'Boys,' he whispered, 'don't come in here. The 
grub is ghastly and the board of health has gone fish- 
ing. If you must eat in this town go to the hotel.' 

"In his campaigns Mr. Kern always prepared a 
schedule of his own itinerary, and used to fret a great 



The Real Kern : A Composite Portrait 443 

deal if trains were late or wheeled transportation was 
not promptly on hand. He was always called in the 
morning at least an hour before train time, and part 
of his regular work before breakfast was to see that 
the baggage of the correspondents was ready to be 
taken to the station — he would not trust anybody but 
himself to look after the baggage, and he was always 
impatient until breakfast was served. At one hotel 
the waiter was slow because the waiter and cook 
were one and the same. Mr. Kern's watch was 
propped against a glass of water on the table. He 
became nervous and restless and finally shouted to 
the landlord, who was sweeping out the office: 

" 'Pete, I've only got fifteen minutes to make that 
train — can't you hurry breakfast a little?' 

" 'Don't worry, John,' came back through the dust 
clouds in the office. 'You can eat all there is in the 
house and still have plenty of time for your train.' 

"This put Mr. Kern in a good humor, and he made 
his railroad connection all right. 

"On another occasion the party with Mr. Kern had 
to cross a small river on an old-fashioned ferry. In 
midstream the rope broke and the craft began float- 
ing on the current. Mr. Kern struck up 'Life on the 
Ocean Wave' and the correspondents joined in with 
him. It was the first time correspondents knew 
Senator Kern was a singer, and for that matter none 
of them ever heard him attempt to sing again. Kin 
Hubbard, who was in the party, drew a cartoon of 
the float down the river for The Indianapolis Neit's, 
which pleased Mr. Kern greatly and he always de- 
clared that the cartoon was Hubbard's masterpiece. 



444 Life of John W. Kern 

"He had a most wonderful memory for names, 
faces and incidents, and his speeches were generally 
punctuated with entertaining stories, a greater part 
of which he usually located in the vicinity of Ko- 
komo. There was always a story to properly illus- 
trate a point, and if the anecdote related by John W. 
Kern could be compiled in one volume it would 
make a book as huge as Webster's Unabridged. And 
these stories were not of a kind that offended or hurt, 
and the occasion for their use was always appropri- 
ate. He had a way, too, of rebuilding a speech with 
new words, and sometimes the correspondents who 
were with him perhaps for weeks and had heard him 
speak many times would burden the wires with a 
warmed-over speech, to the distraction of the man- 
aging editors and the delight of the copy editors, 
whose mission is to knock and destroy. 

"When Mr. Kern was the nominee for vice-presi- 
dent on the Democratic ticket he was frequently al- 
luded to by Republican papers as 'Alfalfa John.' 
But there are only a few people who know that Mr. 
Kern himself was the originator of the term. We 
landed at the Auditorium Hotel in Chicago direct 
from Denver and Mr. Kern gave audience to a large 
number of reporters, and among them several 'sob 
sisters' (which is the craft name for women journal- 
ists). One of these, a piquant little creature with 
fluffy hair from The Chicago Tribune, startled the 
nominee for vice-president by suddenly asking: 

" 'Mr. Kern, what is the actual color of your 
whiskers?' 

" 'I really don't know,' replied Mr. Kern in all 



The Real Kern : A Composite Portrait 445 

seriousness, 'I have never seen them, except in a mir- 
ror, and you know how deceptive looking glasses are 
after one has past forty years. Down in Kokomo, 
Indiana, the boys call them alfalfa.' 

"The next morning a splendid word portrait of 
Mr. Kern appeared in The Tribune in which he was 
portrayed as 'Alfalfa John,' and the name clung to 
him all through the campaign. 

"To write the full story of campaigning with 
John W. Kern would be to write many pages of po- 
litical history. Ambitious perhaps he was, but I 
have known many instances where he smothered his 
own ambitions to advance the interest of his own 
political party. He never was called that he did not 
answer, and he never was asked to go that he failed. 
I have known him, tired and weary and racked 
with pain, to crawl from his bed at three o'clock in 
the morning and ride miles that he might address 
children at a country school house, who were anx- 
ious to hear him. All through his political cam- 
paings, strenuous as some of them were, his kindly 
disposition, his inexplicable sweetness of manner, 
was never ruffled. I never knew him to say a cross 
word, even in his most impatient moments, and the 
blare of bands and the pomp of political parades 
he never forgot his home. At Denver, when his nom- 
ination for vice-president was assured, when states- 
men were trying to grasp his hand, and a platoon of 
newspaper men were climbing over each other to get 
a word with him, Mr. Kern turned to me: 

" 'Won't you please telegraph the good news to 
Mrs. Kern,' he said. 



446 Life of John W. Kern 

" 'Certainly, but what shall I say?' 

" 'I don't need to tell you how happy I am, or 
what word to send to my wife — you have a wife at 
home — just tell my wife what you would say to your 
wife under the same circumstances.' 

"That was John W. Kern, honest, trusting, with 
faith in his friends, and with the picture of his home 
ever before him. The newspaper fraternity lost a 
good friend when Death ushered John W. Kern 
through the Gates of Life. 

"We all must die. 

And leave ourselves, no, it matters not where, when 
Nor how, so we die well; and can that man that does 
Need lamentation for him." 



No picture of Kern would be complete which did 
not delineate him in his professional character. 
While actively engaged in political activities from 
the hour of his admission to the bar until his election 
to the senate in 191 1, he never abandoned the prac- 
tice of the law, or lost his love for the profession. 
No one knew him more intimately in this role than 
Leon O. Bailey, now engaged in the practice with 
former United States Senator Charles A. Towne in 
New York City, with whom he was associated during 
the .first ten years of his residence in Indianapolis. 
It will be observed that in the portrait presented in 
the analysis of Mr. Bailey there is nothing that does 



The Real Kern : A Composite Portrait 447 

not harmonize in a general way with the pictures 
we have had of the Man, the Companion, the Cam- 
paigner, and the Student: 

" 'Was Kern a great lawyer?' I would not justly 
record my own knowledge of the man's mental quali- 
ties, or give response to my own judgment, did I not 
answer this query in the affirmative. 

"As a boy he possessed a thirst for knowledge and 
certainly up to the time of my intimate association 
with him terminated, was one of the most consistent, 
energetic and untiring students within my knowl- 
edge of men. He was logical, of retentive memory, 
a voracious reader of good literature, always delving 
and digging into his law books, with which he was 
ever surrounded, and thorough to the last word in 
his analysis of questions submitted for his investiga- 
tion. It is very easy to see that with his mental habits 
above mentioned, when combined with the qualities 
of humanity and personal magnetism for which the 
world best knew him, Kern was, in the very nature 
of things, a great lawyer. It was my extreme good 
fortune, during my twenty-odd years in Indiana, to 
have enjoyed an intimate acquaintance with such 
great lawyers as Thomas A. Hendricks (in whose 
office I was a student for three years). Major Jona- 
than W. Gordon, Daniel W. Voorhees, David Tur- 
pie, Joseph E. McDonald, Conrad Baker, Byron K. 
Elliott, Addison C. Harris, William A. Ketcham, all 
judges of the Supreme Courts, and scores of brilliant 
members of the Indiana bar; and it is in comparison 
with these men that I rate Kern well up in the list. 



448 Life of John W. Kern 

He was forceful before a jury, not only because of his 
eloquence and pleasing personality, but because of 
the candid and scrupulous manner with which he 
explained every principle and applied every fact of 
importance to be taken into consideration. His pres- 
entation, always manifestly trustworthy, carried con- 
viction that always follows a logical and consistent 
development of the truth. Kern never could or did 
resort to tricks or pretense of any sort, but in every 
important battle met his enemy in the open and 
planted his batteries upon the rock foundation of 
truth and of the legal principles fairly applicable to 
the facts established. Like Oscar B. Hord, of the 
great firm of Baker, Hord and Hendricks, he was 
one of the most adroit cross-examiners at the Indiana 
bar. His skill in this particular constituted one of 
his most potent weapons in the court room. One 
of his rules was: 'We have little to fear from our 
friends in a lawsuit. The danger usually lies behind 
the armor mask of falsehood or deception worn by 
the enemy. If this can be destroyed or penetrated 
we are safe.' His method of handling an unfriendly 
or unwilling, timid or refractory witness was an in- 
teresting study. In this his quick and accurate judg- 
ment of men was of the greatest assistance. A perfect 
knowledge of his case, the exact line to be developed, 
and danger points to be avoided, were the first essen- 
tials, and absolute self poise the second. He never 
prejudiced a jury by an attitude of brutality toward 
an adverse witness. His afifability at the beginning 
was usually rewarded with important admissions, 
then came the rapid-fire questions, a method com- 



The Real Kern : A Composite Portrait 449 

monly adopted by him, which in most instances 
brought confusion and often anger to the witness. 
Kern's experience lead him to assert that 'a witness 
that loses his temper loses his influence.' He did not 
include in this rule those whose resentment was justly 
aroused by the ill treatment of counsel. Kern re- 
garded this feature of his trial work as a distinct art 
and almost felt contempt for a lawyer who failed to 
appreciate its great value or possess the necessary 
skill for obtaining the best results. So much of in- 
terest did he feel in, and real importance attach to, 
this question that he often spoke of his intention, at 
some time, of giving his observations to the profes- 
sion in a suitable book to be entitled 'The Ideal 
Cross-Examiner.' Master as he was of the subject, it 
is unfortunate he never found time to put this pur- 
pose, which would have been a distinct pleasure to 
him, into execution. 

'T recall a very amusing instance of Kern's clever- 
ness in the cross-examination of witnesses, which I 
may be excused for relating. It well demonstrates 
his ability for quickly and accurately taking the 
measurement of a witness. We were appearing for 
the defendant in a damage suit for personal injuries. 
While having reason to know that the claim of the 
plaintifif was based on fraud, the truth being difficult 
of establishment, we realized our client's danger. 
The extent and nature of the plaintiff's injury had 
been elaborately and with much exaggeration, pre- 
sented by a bombastic and pretentious doctor, whose 
use of big words and highly technical scientific terms, 
with little knowledge on his part as to their meaning. 



450 Life of John W. Kern 

were poured out in a flood before the jury. The ap- 
pearance of the witness, nevertheless, was impressive, 
and his statements, freed from the slightest appear- 
ance of doubt, were calculated to convince a jury not 
only of the speaker's wisdom, but the complete reli- 
ability of the conclusions he had reached. We both 
knew the witness personally and were well aware of 
his real status among the members of his profession. 
We not only knew that he was a 'quack,' and to a 
large extent illiterate despite his bold assurance, but 
were convinced that he was deliberately attempting 
to establish the plaintiff's claim by falsehood. How 
to best show the character of this man to the jury was 
Kern's purpose, quickly formed. He must wait until 
the 'Doctor' should be turned over for cross-examina- 
tion. Mr. Kern began with a few flattering observa- 
tions calculated to throw the witness off his guard 
and then, as if to further exploit the scholarly attain- 
ments of the witness (knowing full well he possessed 
none), the examiner quickly asked: 

" 'Doctor, in describing the sphincter muscles, 
please explain to the court and jury the difference, if 
any, between the functions and location in the human 
body of the "oribucularis oris" and the "orbicularis 
ani.' " 

"The doctor, bewildered and as far at sea as a 
mortal can ever be, overlooking the possibility of any 
trap, but thinking only of keeping up his front to the 
jury, replied in his most affable and composed man- 
ner: 

" 'Practically none, Mr. Kern, practically none. 
The terms are used quite interchangeably.' 



The Real Keen: A Composite Portrait 451 

''That question and answer removed the mask and 
was the end of the plaintiff's case. The doctor's use- 
fulness had been destroyed. As the real meaning of 
the answer reached the presiding judge and filtered 
through the minds of the jury, the dignity of the 
court for the time was wholly lost. In thus exposing 
the ignorance and presumption of his opponent's 
chief witness, Kern had employed a means not only 
expressive of his contempt for so great an impostor, 
but one also gratifying to his own sense of humor. 

"He was unselfish and never employed money as 
a standard in measuring the ability, honor or integ- 
rity of men. He earned good fees, but was never able 
to save, and like many public men of his type and 
greatness, was seldom free from the worry and anx- 
iety of debt. Had his splendid talents and untiring 
energies been dominated by greed or open to employ- 
ment by class interests for corrupt purposes, Kern 
might have amassed a fortune, instead of ending his 
life a poor man, but such opportunities never at- 
tracted him and his contempt for those who would 
lend their influence to base purposes because of the 
profit involved was well known to his friends. Much 
of his time was devoted without pay to the advance- 
ment of party, and this, together with his professional 
work, made for him a full and busy life. It was a 
clean, open and honorable one. He threw his entire 
soul into every engagement and much of his best en- 
ergies were devoted to the interest of those who had 
grievances to remedy, but little or no money for com- 
pensation. If worthy, and possessing a just cause, 
this made little difference to Kern, and I have heard 



452 Life of John W. Kern 

him say: 'I am too busy with the things I believe in 
and am doing for the betterment of mankind to fol- 
low the sordid schemes of the mere money-grabbers, 
and I am happier that it is so.' How true this phi- 
losophy of Kern, a man developed from the people, 
and yet how difficult for most men to understand." 



CHAPTER XXI 
At Kerncliffe 

THE moment the burdens of official position 
fell from his shoulders, Senator Kern's heart 
turned to Kernclifife with a longing to rest with the 
family to which he was ardently devoted, and from 
which he had been so long separated in the dis- 
charge of his senatorial duties. He had built the 
house upon the cliff in the hope of frequently join- 
ing Mrs. Kern and the children during the sessions 
of congress, but these visits were infrequent and 
almost invariably cut short by a telegram summon- 
ing him back to Washington. He loved this home 
in the Blue Ridge, where he could relax, ramble at 
will over the hills, and sit in the evenings holding 
the hands of his boys. The story of the making of a 
home on the cliff is interesting in itself. 

The condition of John, Jr., had made it necessary 
for several years for the family to escape the iner- 
vating heat of the Indianapolis summers in Michi- 
gan, and one morning at the breakfast table, after 
his election to the senate, Mr. Kern remarked that 
if the summer sessions of the senate continued he did 
not see how he could be satisfied with the family two 
days and a night away from him. Looking up 
quickly, John, Jr., said: "Why not go to Grand- 



454 Life of John W. Kern 

father Kern's place in the mountains of Virginia? 
Perhaps it's as cool there, and I would gain as much 
as in Michigan." The thought had never occurred 
to the Kerns, but in ten minutes it was arranged that 
they should go to Virginia to test the practicability 
of the plan upon the ground. Many times, in other 
years, while strolling about over the thousand acres, 
they had noted a particular ridge as an ideal site for 
a home, but they had never so much as ascended to 
the top. The result of the inspection was a determi- 
nation to build a "shack" and try it out one summer. 
Reaching the place at noon, where they were met 
by a man with a movable saw mill and a mountain 
carpenter, the contract had been let by 6 o'clock for 
the sawing of thirty thousand feet of lumber, the 
place for the house had been staked ofif and the car- 
penter had been engaged. Without blue prints or 
architectural plans, Mrs. Kern planned her house 
that afternoon, and when it was found that the lum- 
ber would cost so little it was decided to "spread the 
house all over the hill." The rock for the founda- 
tion was found in their own mountain, beautiful 
white sand was to be had in abundance in their own 
creek bottom, and the sandstone for the fireplace, 
with shades of pink running through it, was found 
on their own ground — the thousand acres of woods, 
rocks and rough places. When Senator Kern's term 
in the senate expired, a hundred acres — thanks to 



At Kerncliffe 455 

Mrs. Kern's energy and initiative — had been cleared 
and ditched for cultivation. For a description of the 
house I am indebted to the pen of Mrs. Juliet V. 
Strauss, well known as "The Country Contributor" 
to the readers of The Ladies' Home Journal and 
The Indianapolis News. This brilliant woman, an 
intimate friend of the Kerns, after a visit to Kern- 
cliffe, wrote her impressions under the title, "The 
House That Araminta (Mrs. Kern) Built." 

"I have never been anywhere in my life," she 
wrote, "where there are as many superlative com- 
forts as there are at Kerncliffe, Araminta's summer 
home in Virginia. My idea of comfort does not 
comprise the rich woman's typification of luxury. I 
do not want things too fine — and I do not like a ser- 
vant at my elbow. The presence of a great retinue 
of servants always hints of the undertaker. . . . 
Araminta is the best mixer I ever saw, and her 'mix- 
ing' is not affectation — it is greatness. For greatness 
finds its crucial test in knowing how to be common 
in the big sense of the word. If you are tried in the 
balance by a hair's breadth of snobbery or of prefer- 
ence for the effeminacy of luxury, you are really fur- 
ther from being great than if you missed some of the 
finer points of art or the subtler qualities of kind- 
ness. 

"Nobody who wasn't great in spirit could have 
chosen this breezy wooded knoll between two moun- 
tain ranges and built a house with as many delec- 
table things about it as Kerncliffe. It is a great thing 



456 Life of John W. Kern 

to know what you want and get it — so many of us do 
not — but Araminta is that way — she knows what she 
wants. 

"There is a living room forty feet long with a 
huge stone fireplace and wicker furniture, books and 
piano and a victrola — and doors and windows open- 
ing up vistas of tree tops and mountain and valley. 
There's a dining room in blue and white — also with 
a big fireplace; there's a sitting room for the boys 
with their own books and treasures and a big fire- 
place; there's a kitchen that would do your soul 
good, where we all go and cook and eat if we want 
to; and there's Sunset porch where we eat supper 
and watch the sun go down behind the mountain. 

"But up-stairs! Up-stairs there are four sleeping 
porches, and the birds in the tree tops are always call- 
ing, and far into the tranquil night with the accom- 
paniment of just the faintest leaf whisper the whip- 
poorwill trills a contralto serenade. 

"Just now a bob-white is about to drive me mad 
with his calling from the wheat field. I know he 
says 'Judge White,' because my brother, dead — long 
dead, long dead — seems somehow conscious of my 
spiritual altitude — my exultation in these lovely 
surroundings. 

"How I love the wild things that grow on the 
mountain and along the waysides in the cove. The 
blooming laurel, the huckleberry brush, the sweet 
climbing and vining things, and the smell of the hot 
sun on the dwarf pines. Every little growing thing 
seems intimate to me as though my soul had wan- 



At Kerncliffe 457 

dered here for centuries and had just run back to 
welcome me. 

"Up-stairs there is a den quite like my own at 
home. I do sincerely pity people who haven't a lit- 
tle sheet-iron stove in their den. No matter how 
your house is heated, there is a primitive joy that ex- 
hales from the little sheet-iron stove on a cold morn- 
ing or a rainy day which even transcends the comfort 
of a fireplace. Araminta would not be wholly great 
if she didn't have one in a room where the rug and 
couch are shabby — it would spoil everything if they 
were not shabby— and the chairs have a pleasant sag 
in them, suggestive of agreeable family loafing. 

"Every place where there ought to be there's a 
window or a glass door. I never saw so many ways 
of letting in the breezes and for shutting them off if 
you want to as this house affords. 

"I had my choice of two rooms. One is furnished 
in gray and mauve and has a beautiful view from 
the sleeping porch. The other is furnished in green 
with antique mahogany furniture — Napoleon bed, 
highboy with glass knobs — sewing table and lovely 
chairs; view from the sleeping porch not quite so 
good. Now which do you think I chose? 

"There are dozens of little sanctuaries where one 
may write or read in pleasant or in tempestuous 
weather. Ever so many little lookout rest places 
with bench to invite the soul. There is Tree Top 
House — way up in an oak tree — a charming little 
house with a lookout tower in the tree top, where the 
leaves make an excited pattering of gossip for the 



458 Life of John W. Kern 

visitor. And then the lodge. Why doesn't every- 
body have a lodge? Its uses are legion. Such a 
place for 'nerves,' or for pouting, or for reading, or 
thinking — such a glorious place to slip off from the 
youngsters and play long sessions of bridge. 

"Oh, Nerve Cheesewright, why can't you take a 
leaf out of Araminta's book and do some things you 
want to do? If you were here. But, never mind, I 
am not going to repine; this place has exactly the 
effect upon me which I always find at the seashore 
— a sense of utter detachment from the folks and the 
things I love — a mere joy in breathing that pr'b- 
cludes all sorrow. 

"Araminta was far too clever to choose too deep 
solitude for her lodge in a vast wilderness. She 
needs people and she surely has them. 

"Roanoke is the most progressive city in Virginia 
— a bustling, busy, modern city, with no distinct 
flavor of the old regime in its business life. AH 
sorts of progressive people are there. Only in the 
home of these splendid ancient families which have 
survived the war, the reconstruction period and 
the fatal 'boom' of the New South and come out 
stronger and better for it does one find the inde- 
structible atmosphere of old Virginia, exquisite and 
indescribable unless you know Sarah and her folks 
— but this one is all about Araminta — Araminta 
who drew her own plans and stood over the carpen- 
ters and made them build her house her way and 
thus give to it the irregularity and felicitous crude- 
ness which is its greatest charm. 

"As to folks— there is a lovely diversity of them 



At Kerncliffe 459 

here. Virginia has always been rich in folks. Ara- 
minta has for neighbors the cosmopolitan folks of 
Roanoke, the wonderful and noble people from the 
nearby college at HoUins, and the plain, sturdy 
farmers of the Cove. Many books might be written 
about all of them. Each neighborhood represents 
a phase of life, and Araminta rejoices in her friend- 
ship with all of them. 

"The college is a little world in itself — 'green lit- 
tle w^orld amidst the desert sands' of life is an ex- 
pression that fitly describes any place made beauti- 
ful by fine ideals and fine externals. Hollins is an 
historic place, for many years devoted to the higher 
education of women. The atmosphere of such a 
place is felt palpably in the vicinity, but it is of the 
people here in the Cove that I wish to speak partic- 
ularly. Their little farms — their quaint homesteads 
— cling to the feet of the mountain and suggest ro- 
mances such as John Fox or Lucy Furman might 
write. We went to a little white church at the foot 
of the mountain yesterday. I never did see such a 
flood of June sunshine as filled the Cove and made 
the Blue Ridge seem a deeper hue." 

It was to this home, these scenes, these people, 
that Senator Kern turned for rest and inspiration 
during the long, dreary grind of his senatorial ca- 
reer. And the moment on his way from Hollins, 
four miles distant from Kerncliffe, in crossing the 
foot of Tinker mountain, he reached the highest 
point on his journey, and saw the lower part of the 



460 Life of John W. Kern 

valley of Virginia spread out before him in all its 
exquisite beauty, he was revived. On these visits he 
spent his time resting on the sleeping porches, read- 
ing, or tramping the hills. On these tramps he put 
on the garb of a mountain climber and carried a 
heavy cane as a protection against any snakes he 
might encounter. He was a keen lover of natural 
beauty, and on his tramps he seldom failed to un- 
cover some hitherto hidden treasure — a little stream, 
a water-fall, some unique rock, or some variety of 
tree he had not known to be upon the place. Some- 
times he went forth with ax and hatchet to help in 
the clearing of the land, and these implements were 
put away when he left to await his return. 

Is it remarkable that he looked forward with in- 
finite longing for Kerncliffe on his retirement from 
the senate? Here was his family. At Roanoke, 
near by, was his daughter Julia, wife of Dr. George 
Lawson, and little son. The great shadow that 
rested upon him at the time was concern over his 
health. He had so overtaxed his strength during the 
four years of constant vigilance as leader of the sen- 
ate that his system had been unable to throw off the 
cold he had contracted and along with loss of weight 
and strength, his voice remained alarmingly husky. 
He was finally persuaded to go to the sanatorium 
at Asheville, North Carolina, for treatment, and 
on March 23, nineteen days after leaving the sen- 



At Kerncliffe 461 

ate we find him writing a characteristic letter to 
John, Jr.: 

"ASHEVILLE, N. C, March 23, 1917. 
"My Dear Boy: 

"When I sent Mr. Brooks' letter I had not yet re- 
ceived the Brooks School News containing accounts 
of your splendid record, a sample of your fine work, 
and telling of the esteem in which you are held by 
your teachers and fellow students. It's a great thing 
to have such things to your credit, and I can't tell 
you how proud I am of you, and how much joy I de- 
rived from reading the paper. It is great to have 
ability and pluck to conquer one's way through the 
obstacles which are always present in school work, 
and all other kinds of work, but it is greater still to 
make the fight in such a way as to command the re- 
spect and love of your comrades, and all of those 
most closely associated with you. You should be 
happy in the knowledge that you are a great comfort 
to your parents and have convinced them that you 
are to live a life of usefulness which will bring 
honor to yourself and happiness to them. 

"Of course there is lots of work before you yet, 
but you have demonstrated your ability to meet suc- 
cessfully whatever may come. 

"I am hoping to be with you before very long. 
You may be sure I shall come as soon as I can. 

"I hope my other dear boy is well by this time. 
He has good stufif in him, too, and I am sure will 
make a great success of life. 



462 Life of John W. Kern 

"Love to all my dear ones. I can't quite tell you 
how dear you ail are to me. 

"Affectionately, 

"Your Father." 

Doctor Von Ruck, after an examination, thought 
it possible that by ridding him of his cold and ca- 
tarrh he might be "straightened out," though he 
thought it doubtful, and we find Kern writing 
home, "I suppose I will stay here until there is a 
marked improvement," wistfully adding, "I would 
certainly like to be with you at Kerncliffe and be 
pottering around the place there instead of wander- 
ing around in the woods here." He found life 
pleasant enough at Asheville but for the longing for 
home. His health gradually improved, his cough 
diminished, and he was able to take long walks in 
the woods, and to do much reading and writing. 
Aside from his desire for Kerncliffe he was con- 
stantly harassed by the feeling that he could not af- 
ford to do nothing, with expenses going on, for he 
had given too much of his life to the public to have 
accumulated as he might, had he been more selfish. 
I had a letter from him from Asheville saying that 
he found he "did not respond to treatment as readily 
as he did ten years before," and would probably be 
there indefinitely, and within ten days the report ap- 
peared in the press that he vv^as in Washington. The 



At Keencliffe 463 

story of May, June and July is told in detail in a 
letter to me — the last — written July 24th: 

"I have been sick almost continuously since the 
5th of this month — so sick that I have been unable to 
pay any attention to correspondence. I think I 
wrote you from Asheville, where I spent a few 
weeks in April and May. I went from there to 
Washington the forepart of May to meet Theodore 
Bell on a law matter of some importance. About 
that time I had a proposition from the Lincoln 
Chautauqua Association to fill the vice-president's 
thirty-one engagements with that association in 
seven southern states, or as many as might be made 
before the adjournment of congress, commencing 
May 17th, and speaking every day, including Sun- 
days, on the international situation — the aim and 
duties of patriotic Americans. 

"The doctor advised against it, but I thought I 
would try it, and if I found it too much for me, I 
would quit. So before leaving Washington I called 
on President Wilson that he might give me a special 
message to the southern people — which he did — and 
that, I suppose, is the basis of the story that I was 
out speaking for the president on the food supply. 

"I started on May 17th with two speeches in east 
Tennessee. I think I can give you my itinerary 
from memory: May 17th, Kingsport, Tenn. ; i8th, 
Greenville, Tenn.; 19th, Cartersville, Ga. ; 20th, 
Gainesville, Ga. ; 21st, Monroe, Ga.; 22d, Coving- 
ton, Ga. ; 23d, Carrollton, Ga. ; 24th, Decatur, Ala.; 
25th, McMinnoitte, Tenn.; 26th, TuUahoma, Tenn.; 



464 Life or John W. Kern 

27th, Athens, Ala.; 28th, Anniston, Ala.; 29th, Me- 
ridian, Miss.; 30th, Gulfport, Miss.; 31st, New Or- 
leans, La.; June ist, Lafayette, La.; 2d, Alexandria, 
La.; 3d, Mansfield, La.; 4th, Shreveport, La.; 5th, 
Monroe, La.; 6th, Ruston, La.; 7th, Vicksburg, 
Miss.; 8th, Clarksdale, Miss.; 9th, Helena, Ark.; 
loth, Bunkley, Ark.; nth, Covington, Tenn. ; 12th, 
Dyersburg, Tenn.; 13th, Brownsville, Tenn.; 14th, 
Humboldt, Tenn.; 15th, Hopkinsville, Ky.; i6th, 
Frankfort, Ky. ; 17th, Carrollton, Ky. — all of which 
appointments I filled. 

"It was getting pretty hot the end of the first 
week, and I was feeling very much fagged and was 
about ready to throw up the sponge, when the 
weather changed, and from that time on every night 
was cool (I spoke only at night), and by conserving 
my strength the best I could I thought I was 
stronger on June 17th than when I commenced. 

"I was intending to come from Carrollton, Ky., 
directly here for a good long rest, except that in a 
moment of weakness I had promised the chautauqua 
people to open their chautauqua at Battle Creek, 
Mich., on June 25th. I had been corresponding 
with some New York people about an important 
legal matter, and when I got to Frankfort, Ky., on 
June 1 6th, I had a telegram from them that they 
wanted to see me in Washington the next week — the 
19th or 20th. Mrs. Kern, with whom they had also 
been in communication, also wired suggesting that 
I go to Washington directly from Carrollton and 
finish everything so that when I reached home I 
could stay. So I wired them that I would be in 



At Kerncliffe 465 

Washington the following Tuesday — the 19th and 
on until Sunday — and I went there. They couldn't 
get ready for the conference that week, and after 
waiting in Washington until Sunday I started for 
Battle Creek, Mich. 

"I had tried to get out of that engagement, but the 
Chautauqua people held me to it, and I went via Fort 
Wayne and South Bend, and made my speech at 
Battle Creek on the 25th. I started for home the 
next morning. I took a G. R. & I. at Kalamazoo 
and spent the hottest day of my life going to Cincin- 
nati (through Fort Wayne again). I there had to 
take an upper berth to Roanoke and got to HoUins 
at noon the next day, pretty much played out. 

'T rested all afternoon, slept next day until 10 
o'clock, and while eating breakfast with Mrs. Kern 
about 10:30 and discussing with her the good times 
we were going to have, the telephone rang and here 
came a long distance message from my New York 
parties that their business was ripe, and that it was 
of the highest importance that I should meet them 
in Washington the next morning. Well ... I 
took the noon train for Washington. 

"I met the parties the next morning and I con- 
cluded it would take ten days to dispose of the busi- 
ness and made arrangements to stay. We got it go- 
ing in good shape when I was taken sick. For two 
days I had high fever and was confined to my room, 
but the doctor was with me every day, and I would 
get out for an hour and take a pull at my case, and 
so on until we had gone as far as we could at the 
present time. The doctor fixed me up and told me 



466 Life of John W. Kern 

that when I got to Kerncliffe and relaxed I would be 
all right. 

"Well, I came here and relaxed and at the same 
time collapsed, and was very sick for several days 
and have not been away from the house yet. The 
doctor was out to see me today and says I am much 
improved, but that I had so overtaxed myself for 
two months it would take a good while for me to get 
back to my normal strength. 

"Now that is a true account of my doings since 
May ist, written down with more or less difficulty 
to the end that 'the truth of history may be vindi- 
cated' . . . You can never complain now that 
I have never written you a long letter. I did not 
know I had the strength or the nerve to string one 
out to this length when I began." 

It is characteristic of the man that during his 
really serious illness in Washington he concealed it 
from his family; quite as characteristic that in the 
midst of his illness, with the doctor calling daily, 
and he by sheer will power dragging himself from 
his bed for an hour's "pull" at an important legal 
matter, did not lose sight of the fact that the birth- 
day of John, Jr., was almost at hand. 

"Washington, July 5, 1917. 
"My Dear Boy John: 

"I hope to be with you on the 7th, but for fear of a 
slip-up will send this check ahead, so that your 
mother will have the use of it a little earlier. 



At Kerncliffe 467 

"It is very hot here, and I have felt the heat more 
than at any time this summer. In fact, I haven't 
been very well, but nothing serious, though I have 
had the doctor a couple of times. I may not be 
home until early next week, as I have been thrown 
back somewhat by my business. Uncle Roll 
(Cooper) comes in to see me every day. 

"This last has been a proud year for you, as you 
have carried ofif everything in sight. We are all 
proud of you and love you dearly. I have no doubt 
but that new honors and many of them are to be 
yours in the future. 

"Much love to all, 

"Your Father.'' 

Even in this letter, written under the conditions 
described, the never-failing love of fun crops out in 
the reference to a family joke about Mrs. Kern get- 
ting the boys' birthday checks. 

After the collapse the serious nature of his ill- 
ness was so impressed upon him that he reconciled 
himself to another absence from Kerncliffe and the 
family, and to returning to Asheville for an indef- 
inite stay. Going by way of Washington he stopped 
for a day at the Congress Hall hotel, where he smil- 
ingly told Louis Ludlow, the correspondent, that 
he was "going to Asheville for a post-graduate 
course," and wrote a brief note to Billy, the younger 
son, inclosing a birthday check. 



468 Life of John W. Keen 

"Washington, August 8, 1917. 
"My Dear Billy: 

"You are fourteen to-morrow and here is your 
check. You are now a great big boy, almost a young 
man, and I know you are going to be a good man, for 
it is in you. When I left you the other night I 
would have been glad to have told you how much I 
loved you and your dear brother and mother and 
sister, but I was too full to talk. I doubt if you will 
ever know what deep love your father has for all of 
you. My earnest prayer is that you boys will grow 
up to be good, honest, square, manly men. 

"Lovingly, 

"Your Father.'' 

He stood the trip to Asheville fairly well, but ar- 
rived on the morning of the 9th tired and with his 
lungs and throat irritated by the smoke of the nu- 
merous tunnels, and with a cough — "not a hard 
cough, but a hacking one." Writing to Mrs. Kern on 
his arrival he said: "Doctor Von Ruck said I looked 
better than he expected to see me and if I would 
only stay with him long enough to give him a chance 
he felt sure he could fix me up, unless the exam- 
ination tomorrow develops something unexpected. 
I told him I would stay with him this time until 
he has all the chance he needs." On the following 
day after the examination, and just one week before 
his death, he wrote of the result of the examination 
in the last letter he ever wrote. The doctor found 



At Kerncliffe 469 

his lungs in practically the same condition as in May, 
but his general condition much worse "owing to 
overwork and too great a tax on my energies." He 
had lost eight pounds since leaving the sanatorium 
in May. It almost instantly developed that the dan- 
ger was in his general condition, and as disturbing 
symptoms developed and he grew weaker, Mrs. 
Kern was summoned from Kerncliffe. His mind 
was not at rest and he was disturbed in his sleep. 
The war distressed him and was constantly in his 
thoughts. When he fell into a doze he was busy 
with his work in the senate, or in making a Labor 
day speech which he had promised to deliver the 
first of September in Indianapolis. He realized that 
the end was near. Conscious to the last his death was 
peaceful. 

The news that flashed over the wires announcing 
his death was the first indication most of his friends 
had that he was seriously ill. Telegrams from the 
highest station in the land down to the most humble 
poured in upon the stricken family. On the an- 
nouncement of his death by Senator New in the 
senate that body adjourned after placing on the rec- 
ord the testimony of its appreciation of his life and 
public services. In Indiana particularly the shock 
was great. Press and public men, regardless of party, 
hastened to pay tribute to his character. Plans were 
being made to have the body lie in state in the ro- 



470 Life of John W. Kern 

tunda of the state house, where honor has been paid 
to Voorhees and Harrison, to Gray and Fairbanks 
and other distinguished servants of the common- 
wealth, when it was learned that he would be buried 
at Kerncliffe, where he had so longed for the oppor- 
tunity to "rest." A 'week after his death a great 
throng filled the state house to hear tributes to his 
memory from William J. Bryan, former Governor 
Ralston, and Secretary of State Jackson, acting for 
Governor Goodrich, who was ill. 

The simple and impressive story of the burial has 
been told in the World News of Roanoke : 

"The burial of John W. Kern at Kerncliffe yes- 
terday was in keeping with the character of the 
man. 

"One for whom over 6,000,000 of his fellowmen 
had cast their votes for the second highest office in 
their power to bestow; whom his own state had ever 
delighted to honor; who had for four years been the 
leader of his, the dominant, party in the senate; who 
had, through a great world crisis, been an intimate 
friend and trusted counselor of the president; and 
who had measured up to the full stature of a man 
under every test which high office and trying cir- 
cumstances could apply to him, was laid to rest in the 
presence of a few friends and neighbors and with a 
burial service of a sweet and beautiful simplicity ap- 
propriate to the strength and gentleness of his ex- 
alted character. 



At Kerncliffe 471 

''Had time and circumstances permitted it, the na- 
tion would have chosen to give a patent expression 
to its sense of loss; his former colleagues and follow- 
ers in the congress would have wished to pay the 
tribute of their presence, and his casket would have 
been covered with a profusion of flowers from the 
thousands who had learned to love as well as honor 
him. 

"But his brief illness was not known to many, and 
even to these his sudden death was a sad surprise. 
So when it was decided to bring his body to his 
summer home in Carvin's Cove for burial only a few 
friends, made during his occasional brief stays in 
Virginia, and his neighbors there in the mountains 
had opportunity to attend his funeral. 

"These, numbering about 200, assembled at the 
Kerncliffe home where the services were conducted 
under the direction of Dr. George Braxton Taylor, 
minister at the nearby Enon Baptist Church, and in 
conformity with the senator's well-known love of 
simple and unpretending things. A passage from 
the Scriptures read by a young man, friend and tutor 
to his sons; a prayer by Doctor Taylor, the singing 
of 'Abide With Me' and 'Come Ye Disconsolate' by 
a few of the ladies from Hollins, a few words from 
the heart of his friend, Mr. Lucien H. Cocke, tell- 
ing of his life and its great service, followed by the 
removal of the body to the grave, where Mr. Joseph 
A. Turner closed the service with appropriate 
prayer, and the body of John W. Kern was laid to 
its last and perfect rest. 

"It was at sunset above the waters of Carvin's 



472 Life of John W. Kern 

Creek, on one of the western foothills of Tinker 
Mountain that he was buried; there he himself had 
spent many of the days of his early youth; there he 
had hoped to find an age of rest from his long life of 
generous and untiring service to his country; and 
there he sleeps today. 

" 'I lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence 
Cometh my strength,' says the Psalmist. So in all 
ages have said the nations of the world in their hours 
of trial. The strength of those great mountains 
woven into the warp and woof of his sturdy ancestry 
was John Kern's heritage; the serene peace of their 
silent places was typified in the quality of calmness 
which was so marked in him; in his heart was the 
low deep music of their murmuring waters, and in 
his soul was the majesty of those everlasting hills. 

"A sweet, a gentle, and withal a masterful life has 
come to its close, a nation has lost a leader and a 
statesman, a family has lost a father and a friend; 
and in the quiet peace of that secluded valley lies his 
weary body, now at rest, but the influence of his 
great, strong, simple, unpretentious manhood can 
not die." 

Here on a high slope overlooking a little bottom 
land that he had helped to clear is his grave, cov- 
ered with daisies and wild roses, and marked by a 
great rough native sandstone monument, bearing the 
inscription written by John W. Kern, Jr. — "Here 
lies in Peace, the body of John Worth Kern; Resting 



At Kerncliffe 473 

after the Labors of a Life Lived for the Welfare of 
the People." 

In no more appropriate way could this story of 
such a life be closed than with the tribute of Wil- 
liam B. Wilson, secretary of labor, the highest offi- 
cial representative of the working masses of Amer- 
ica, whose champion he was; who knew him not 
only as the consistent friend of social justice, but 
from his position as a member of President Wilson's 
cabinet, knew him as a potential leader of the new 
day that dawned when Woodrow Wilson first took 
the oath of office: 

"When a great man dies, it is easy to indulge in 
the usual and obvious language of euolgy, but when 
personal knowledge of his nobility of character is 
added to the respect and admiration inspired by his 
whole career, then words of praise become a labor 
of love, and through the very fullness of affection, it 
is difficult to give the feelings of the heart adequate 
expression. 

"So in speaking of John Worth Kern. He be- 
longed to a race of statesmen whose type and exam- 
ple was Abraham Lincoln. These unite simplicity 
and sincerity with ability and power. They are 
rugged and strong like the hills, genial and fruitful 
like the prairies, and like all these qualities of na- 
ture, honest. 

"Throughout a long and distinguished public 
career which attained to eminence in the history of 



474 Life of John W. Kern 

his country, Senator Kern never wavered from his 
early ideals. Like all constructive men, he endeav- 
ored to adapt them to the necessities and require- 
ments of a changing age, but he maintained them in 
their integrity to the last. They became part of the 
strong structure of better things — better because 
John Worth Kern lived. 

"That in itself would be a great and satisfying 
tribute; but he had so many other endearing quali- 
ties that reminiscent afifection is not content with the 
utterance of merely historical appreciation. He 
was not only loyal to his principles, he was in all 
right ways loyal to his friends. He had a fine cour- 
age of loyalty also. He would, whenever occasion 
demanded, give battle to aid a friend or uphold a 
principle; nor did he ever grudge patient and labor- 
ious toil to accomplish either result. 

"Throughout the strenuous years of his mature 
manhood — nearly half a century of public life — his 
voice was always for the just and humane treatment 
of the toiling millions. It adds the element of 
pathos to our appreciation, to remember that for 
most of this time he struggled not only against the 
handicap of slender financial resources, but also 
against the disadvantages of delicate health. 

"It is an inspiration when vv-e think how much, 
notwithstanding these drawbacks, he accomplished. 
His name is written large in the annals of this age. 
He was a force for civic righteousness, for true 
progress, and for the nobler destiny of man. 

"It is with deep personal regard and affection I 



At Kernclifi'e 475 

pen these lines. They are written in sincere and 
simple tribute to one of whom truly it can be said— 

" 'None knew him but to love him, 
None named him but to praise.' " 



